


Chance Encounters

by turtleback



Category: Rizzoli & Isles
Genre: F/F, Femslash
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-03-13
Updated: 2013-12-15
Packaged: 2017-12-05 05:09:47
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 23
Words: 51,120
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/719225
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/turtleback/pseuds/turtleback
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>AU story.<br/>Jane is a cop in the Narcotics Division. Maura is a doctor who is trying to distance herself from her ties to mobster Patrick Doyle. They have a chance encounter in the middle of the night on a street corner and their paths keep crossing after that.<br/>Disclaimer: These characters do not belong to me.<br/>Also posted at FF.net</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

It was two o'clock in the morning and Detective Jane Rizzoli was standing on the corner of Harrison and East Berkeley streets. She was wearing a halter top, a leather skirt, and fishnet stockings. She had on way too much blush and way too much blue eye shadow, along with knee-high black boots with four-inch stiletto heels.

Jane was a detective in the Boston Police Department's Narcotics Division, but she had recently accepted a special assignment to the Special Task Force on Underage Prostitution. Rumors had been circulating about a new crime ring that was smuggling underage girls into Boston and forcing them into prostitution. One girl had been found dead at Carson Beach. She had no identification and no one ever came to identify her or claim her. It was suspected that she was a victim of this prostitution ring.

The Boston Police Department had yet to make any progress on tracking down where or how this purported prostitution ring operated. So they recruited female police officers to go undercover as prostitutes to see what information could be gleaned from actual prostitutes and johns.

Normally this wasn't the kind of assignment Jane wanted to take. The small number of female officers on the force meant that all of the women were constantly asked to do undercover operations like this. Ones that involved fishnet stockings and sexual situations. Jane resented having to do it when her male colleagues were rarely if ever put in comparable situations. And it hardly seemed worth it just to get minor drug selling or prostitution busts that didn't make even the smallest dent in overall crime.

But this was different. Young girls brought to Boston, probably against their will, and forced into prostitution, almost definitely against their will. Jane thought that was something worth trying to stop.

Four other female officers volunteered as well. The locations in the city where street corner hooking still happened were mapped out and divided up. The plan was for each undercover officer to spend a few nights at each of their designated locations. Jane wore a wire and her partner Barry Frost was in an unmarked car nearby listening. Men would drive up and solicit her services and she would get in their car and direct them to drive to a parking lot a block and half away where she would reveal that she was actually a cop. For this operation they didn't bust anyone. They were after information and they didn't want to bring any attention to their operation.

The men were easy, pathetic really, Jane thought. Who even picked up hookers on the street anymore when there was the internet and all sorts of safer and more organized options for paying for sex? Once these guys knew Jane was a cop they were willing to do anything to not be arrested. Unfortunately, in the month Jane had been working undercover none of them had provided any useful information.

The women, the actual prostitutes, were another story. Although it wasn't uncommon for new women to show up on a street corner and for others to disappear forever, they had no reason to trust Jane or to talk to her at all. A discerning person would notice that Jane was a little too clean, a little too healthy looking, and even a little too old to be out on the street hooking. And these women certainly weren't going to answer any direct questions so Jane could really only try to listen in on conversations. If Jane thought any of the women could have information she had Frost pick them up on her last night at that location. So far that hadn't yielded any information either.

This was Jane's third night at this location. She watched a blue Prius pull up across the street and muttered, "What the fuck?" as a woman exited from the driver's seat and started walking towards them. The woman was wearing a leather jacket over a t-shirt, skin tight designer jeans, and ridiculously high stilettos.

The mystery woman walked towards the hookers farthest from Jane and started passing something out to each of them. She was speaking too softly for Jane to hear what she was saying until she got to Jane. The woman handed Jane a business card and Jane looked at it quickly. It read Dr. Maura Isles, South Boston Women's Clinic and listed an address in South Boston.

Jane looked up and found the woman staring at her with a curious expression on her face. "We provide free medical care there, no questions asked," the woman Jane now presumed was Dr. Maura Isles said.

Jane held the woman's gaze but could only say, "Uh, thanks."

The woman narrowed her eyes and looked like she wanted to say something else, but instead she turned around, went back to her car, and drove off.

Jane watched the car drive away and then tucked the card inside her bra.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Dr. Maura Isles was the daughter of notorious Boston mobster Patrick Doyle, although Maura realize this until she was in college. Maura should probably have figured things out sooner, but she spent more time with her textbooks and inside her own head than with other people, and Patrick worked hard to shield Maura from the hard realities of his life.

Technically, Patrick owned an auto body shop on Dorchester Street in South Boston, just a few blocks from their house on 3rd Street. He inherited the shop, along with his position in the South Boston mob from his father. But he wasn't a mechanic and he kept odd hours, frequently leaving the house in the late afternoon and not returning until the early hours of the morning. Sometimes in the afternoon other men would come to the house and they would talk in the small backyard.

Maura's mother died when she was a baby. Maura's grandmother, Patrick's mother, lived with them and took care of Maura until she too died when Maura was twelve. After that, Maura was more or less on her own. She had never lacked for anything material, and while she knew she was loved, she lived a fairly solitary existence. From the age of ten Maura attended the Winsor School, a private girls' school across the city in the Fenway neighborhood. She was always happiest alone with a book and alone was how she spent most of her time.

When Maura was in college she finally had to confront the reality of how her father actually made money when he explained the trust he had set up for her and how it was safe from any criminal investigations. Then he disappeared. The FBI showed up with a lot of questions that Maura had no ability to answer. They occasionally came to question her and Maura assumed she was under surveillance, but having no information to offer, she ignored it.

Maura was tempted to walk away from the money, but instead decided on what she thought was a compromise. She continued to pursue her goal to be a doctor but resolved to use the money to help people in some way. She went to medical school and after her residency in internal medicine, she went to Ethiopia with Médecins Sans Frontières.

Maura had returned to Boston six months ago. During medical school Maura had changed her last name to Isles, seeking some distance from the Doyle name. It had been easy to forget about everything while she was in Africa. Now she was again face to face with her father's past, despite not hearing a word from him in almost ten years. She considered running away again, but decided instead to use her money to set up a clinic to serve women in need of medical care.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Are you sure you wanna go to this thing? You don't have to. You could talk me out of it too," Jane yelled over her shoulder as dug through her closet for the black high heel pumps to wear with her black dress.

"We're going," Casey called back from the bedroom. "You have to go and I want to go with you. I'm here for only two weeks, I'm going to spend as much time as possible with you. And you're being honored."

Jane emerged triumphantly with the shoes and said, "I am not being honored. The Narcotics Division is being honored but it's mostly just public relations bullshit."

"What do you mean?" Casey asked.

Jane sat down on the couch to put on her shoes. "Ah, okay, see the brass likes it when we make arrests for hand to hands, you know individual drug sales. When the brass has to go to the mayor and city council and give a report they get to point to all the drug arrests and say they're doing a great job. But those arrests don't do anything to curb drug sales, or drug use or crime."

"Because it doesn't stop the drugs from getting to the streets to begin with."

"Right, it doesn't affect supply or demand at all. So the District Attorney's office came to us and said they didn't want to prosecute all these small drug arrests anymore. It took too much time and resources for little to no impact. They wanted to concentrate on other crimes and for drugs just mid or high level dealers."

"Sounds reasonable."

"But the brass still wants arrest numbers. So we make still make the arrests but instead of going to jail, they go to one of these community service partners where they go through drug rehab or some other program, or for all we know they leave and go home the next day. I mean, it's probably a step in the right direction, but this ceremony tonight is just PR for all of the organizations involved."

"Well, let's just go and enjoy the free food and booze then," Casey said as he emerged from the bedroom.

"Hey, look at you all dressed up. I don't think I've ever seen you in a suit."

"Ready to go?" Casey asked.

"I guess so. It can't be too painful."

The Boston Community Service Partnership fundraiser was held at the Omni Parker House hotel in downtown Boston. In addition to the detectives from the Narcotics Division, representatives from various community service organizations and City Hall were in attendance. Dinner was served, awards were presented, speeches were made, and then there was entertainment while a silent auction was held and people hobnobbed.

Jane and Casey were looking over the silent auction items when a voice behind them said, "Excuse me."

Jane and Casey both turned around and Jane again found herself face to face with Dr. Maura Isles. "Shit," Jane whispered, but Maura didn't notice because her attention was fixed on Casey.

"Are you a member of the Narcotics Division?" she asked him.

"Uh, no," Casey responded and held out his hand, "Sergeant Major Casey Jones, U.S. Army."

"Dr. Maura Isles, nice to meet you." Maura turned to her attention to Jane and held out her hand.

Jane took it and said, "Detective Jane Rizzoli, narcotics. Nice to meet you Dr. Isles," she added.

"Detective Rizzoli, do you mind if I have a word with you in private?" Maura asked.

Jane raised her eyebrows to Casey and he walked away.

When Casey was out of earshot, Maura leaned closer and said conspiratorially, "I knew you weren't a prostitute."

"Congratulations, maybe you should be a detective," Jane responded.

"Oh, do you really think so? I'm not sure it would be the right fit for me."

Jane shook her head and said, "That was a joke."

"Oh, I'm sorry. I'm not very good at detecting sarcasm."

Jane suppressed another sarcastic comment and instead said, "Was there something you wanted to talk about, Doc?"

"I just wanted you to know that I won't blow your cover, you know with any of the other girls. We see a lot of prostitutes and also women who are addicted to drugs and have other issues at the clinic. And I think the work you're doing that was talked about tonight is fantastic. If there is anything I can help you with let me know."

"Yeah, sure. So, uh, why exactly are you here tonight?" Jane asked.

"Networking I think is the correct term. The clinic has only been open a few months. I want to make sure other organizations know about us. We should all be able to help each other."

"Well, it was nice to meet you, again, Dr. Isles."

"You too, Detective. Maybe we'll run into each other again," Maura said with a smile.

Jane returned to her table and Frost asked, "Who was that?"

"Remember the woman who was passing out cards to all the hookers last week?" Jane said.

"Damn, you didn't tell me she was so hot."

"Yeah," Jane laughed. "But she might be crazy. There's something that's just a little weird about her."

"What did she want?" Frost asked.

"I'm not really sure."

"Did you ever do a background check on her?"

"No, but I still have her card back the office. I think it's time to find out what her deal is," Jane responded.


	2. Chapter 2

The following week Jane and Frost were on a break from the nightly hooker routine. They were spending time writing up reports on their activities from the past few weeks and meeting with the other Special Task Force members to compare notes and figure out next steps.

Frost was also running a background check on Maura Isles. When Jane returned to her desk after grabbing sandwiches for lunch on Wednesday, Frost was beaming. "Dr. Maura Isles is a very interesting lady," he said.

Jane dropped a sandwich in front of him and then dropped into her chair. "Oh yeah? What did you find?"

"Well, she spent the past two years in Ethiopia with Doctors without Borders. Before that she did her residency in internal medicine at the University of California San Francisco Medical Center. She did medical school at Columbia University and before that she graduated summa cum laude from Harvard."

"When do we get to the interesting part?" Jane deadpanned.

"She grew up in South Boston. When she was in college she changed her last name." Frost handed a manila folder to Jane. "Meet Maura Doyle."

Jane's eyes widened as she said, "Doyle? As in FBI Most Wanted Paddy Doyle?"

"Yup," Frost said excitedly. "Maura is his daughter. As far as we know she is his only child."

"Holy shit. So what's all this?" Jane asked, waving the folder.

Frost took a bite of his sandwich before saying, "That is Dr. Isles' FBI file. Paddy Doyle disappeared over ten years ago, just before the FBI was about to close in on him. No mention in the file by the way of how they think Doyle was tipped off the FBI was coming after him."

Jane rolled her eyes. "Of course not."

"Maura was in college at the time and the FBI agents spent a lot of time following her and asking her questions. If she knew anything about where he disappeared to she wasn't telling."

"Did you read the whole file?"

Frost nodded with a mouthful of food.

"Any thoughts?" Jane asked.

"You can't tell much from the summaries of the conversations they had with her. And you know those FBI guys aren't the sharpest tools in the shed. But during the time Maura was under FBI surveillance, she didn't do anything other than go to class and study. They tapped her phone and she didn't talk to anyone other than a couple of classmates and a guy named Garrett Fairfield, who apparently was her boyfriend at the time."

"Anything interesting about him?"

"Well, he was from one of the wealthiest families in Boston and he's in prison for killing his brother."

"Jesus Christ."

"Yeah, it's not a great track record for her friends and family. I don't know, Jane. Patrick Doyle's daughter returns to Boston after being gone almost ten years and you meet her because she's out talking to hookers in the middle of the night. It just seems weird. I think we should pursue this."

"Yeah, I think you're right. It's better than dressing up a like prostitute, right? Why don't you show the Lieutenant what you've got and I'm gonna go have another chat with Dr. Isles."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Jane waited until late in the afternoon before leaving to go to the South Boston Women's Clinic. The card Dr. Isles gave her said the clinic's hours were 7am-4pm. Jane arrived just before 4pm and found an empty waiting room. A nurse told Jane that Dr. Isles was with a patient but that she could wait for her.

About twenty minutes later a patient emerged from a back room followed by Maura, who was wearing her white coat over a light green dress. She talked for a moment with the nurse, who then started packing up for the day, and then turned her attention to Jane. Smiling brightly, Maura said, "Detective Rizzoli. It's so nice to see you again. What can I do for you?"

"I wanted to check out your operation here and I had a few questions for you."

"Okay. I need to clean up and restock the exam rooms. Why don't you come with me and you can see our space and if you don't mind, we can talk while I work."

Jane followed Maura as she gave a quick tour and Jane asked a few questions about the clinic. At the final exam room, Jane leaned casually in the doorway watching as Maura started going through cabinets and drawers and taking notes on a clipboard. Jane hadn't given much thought to what exactly she was going to do once she got to this point. After a few moments of silence, Jane asked, "How did you pick Isles?"

Jane saw Maura tense as she said, "Excuse me?"

"I was just curious how you picked Isles when you changed your name?" Jane asked again.

Maura put the clipboard down on the counter in front of her but didn't turn around. "How did you know?" she said softly.

"I am a detective."

"So you were investigating me?" Maura asked.

Jane thought she sounded more hurt than angry. "A woman going around alone talking to hookers in the middle of the night? It seemed like I should at least run a background check."

"I don't know where my father is."

"I'm not all that interested in Patrick Doyle." The words were out of Jane's mouth before she could stop them, but it was true. She had no interest in Patrick Doyle, but found herself increasingly interested in his daughter.

Maura turned around and leaned back against the counter. She fixed a steely gaze on Jane as she said, "Do you think I've returned to Boston to continue the family business?"

"I have no idea what to think," Jane responded honestly.

"I'm just trying to run this clinic and do a little good here. I'm not doing anything illegal. But ask me anything you want to. I can't lie," Maura said.

"What do you mean you can't lie?"

"I'm physically incapable of lying. If I try to lie I experience vasovagal syncope."

"Vaso what?"

"I faint," Maura explained.

"Why didn't you just say that?"

Maura shrugged slightly. "I'm a doctor. Many diseases and medical conditions share common symptoms, it is important to use precise terms when describing symptoms so that an accurate diagnosis can be made."

Jane shook her head, realizing this conversation had gotten weirdly off track. "Do you have any other family in Boston?"

"No. My mother died when I was a baby. The only other family I had was my grandmother and she died when I was a child."

"I'm sorry," Jane said.

"Why are you sorry?"

"Um," Jane paused because she wasn't quite sure what she was apologizing for. Cops generally didn't need to apologize to people they were questioning. "For dredging up the past, I guess."

"Don't be sorry. Since I returned to Boston the past seems to be all I can think about. I'm kind of relieved that someone knows my secret. This is going to make me sound so naive, or maybe just pathetic, but I had no idea that my father was a criminal until I was in college. I don't even know what his crimes he committed. I mean I've heard the charges: extortion, money laundering, gambling, arms smuggling, murder. But I don't know what any of that actually means and it makes me feel so stupid."

"Do you wanna know what he did?" Jane asked.

"My father was caring and attentive and loving with me and I don't want to ruin that memory of him. But I wonder about it all the time. If I knew the details I could stop wondering, but I don't know if I actually want to know."

This conversation had gone a lot differently than Jane had expected and she wasn't sure how exactly to proceed so she said lamely, "You didn't answer my question, about your last name."

"I thought it sounded pretty and as though it was from a faraway place."

"Why did you come back to Boston?" Jane asked.

"I don't know."

Jane ran her fingers through her hair. "I uh, I should go. I'm sorry for bothering you like this."

Jane started walking away but Maura called after her, "Detective?" Jane returned to the doorway and Maura said, "Don't be sorry. I don't have anything to hide."

Jane nodded and left. She went out to her car and called Frost and reported on her conversation with Maura. Frost relayed his conversation with the Lieutenant, who had decided they should put Maura under surveillance for the rest of the week. Jane suggested that she and Frost take the shift covering the late afternoon until early morning and they put someone else on during the hours Maura was at the clinic. They agreed that Jane stay where she was and follow Maura home and then Frost would meet her once Jane had the location.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Friday night Jane and Frost were sitting in Jane's car which was parked a few houses down the street from Maura's house on a quiet residential street in Jamaica Plain. For three nights they had followed Maura from the clinic to her house where she stayed for the rest of the night.

"Is Casey back in Afghanistan?" Frost asked.

"Yeah, he left last Saturday."

"That must be tough."

Jane gave him an annoyed look and said, "Casey and I aren't in a relationship."

"Are you sure?"

"Look, we've known each forever and when he's on leave we have fun together, but that's it. I'm not carrying a fucking torch for him."

"Does he know that?" Frost asked.

"He volunteered for another tour in Afghanistan. Even if I wanted something more with him, it's clearly not something he's looking for. He's married to his job and so am I so it works for both of us. We have a good time when we're together and we don't have to worry about anything else."

They lapsed back into silence for a while until Frost said, "Is this chick gonna ever do anything interesting or what? Could she be sneaking out the back somehow?"

"I told you I checked it all out the other day. She'd have to climb over like an eight foot fence. And her car is right there, where the fuck is she gonna walk to around here? I don't know, the FBI didn't find anything before. What if she was telling the truth? What if she's just a lonely woman trying to do something good and trying to escape her past?"

Frost was studying Jane as she talked and he thought for a moment before responding, "You like her, don't you?"

"What? Come on. Knock it off," Jane said but she could tell she blushing slightly.

"No, you're totally into her. It's written all over your face. Come on, tell me what the deal is."

Jane shook her head. "There's just something about her. Like there's no pretense with her, like all her cards on the table. She's just so open and vulnerable, but strong too."

"Or she's an incredible actress," Frost suggested.

Jane let that go but a few minutes later said, "Let's say she's been telling the truth and she doesn't know where Paddy Doyle is and she's not back in Boston to do anything criminal. What if she's actually in danger now because of her connection to Paddy Doyle? If one of his enemies figures out who she is, what if they come after her to try to get him to come out of hiding?"

Frost considered that for a moment and said, "I guess that's possible. But without any evidence I don't think there's anything we can do about it. Do you think we should call off the surveillance?"

"No, let's continue through the weekend like we planned. We'll figure next steps on Monday."


	3. Chapter 3

On Monday afternoon Jane paced back and forth in her apartment. Jane and Frost were back on undercover duty that night and for the rest of the week. Two of the other undercover teams had come up with a few leads on the underage prostitution ring that seemed legitimate but nothing had come of it yet. Another body of an unidentified teenage girl had been found Saturday morning in Savin Hill Park in Dorchester and the sense of urgency to find new information increased.

The weekend surveillance of Maura Isles had yielded nothing new and they all decided there was no point in continuing it. But Jane still had some questions and concerns and that's why she was pacing in her apartment. "Fuck it," she muttered as she grabbed her keys and went out to her car.

Jane arrived at the South Boston Women's Clinic a little after 4pm. The door to the clinic was locked and Jane knocked loudly a few times before she saw Maura walking down the hall to the waiting room.

Maura paused briefly when she saw that it was Jane at the door but continued through the waiting to unlock the door. Maura opened the door but didn't move to let Jane in. "Detective. What can I do for you today?"

"Please call me Jane. I'm not here in any official capacity. I just wanna talk to you for a minute. Can I please come in?"

Maura hesitated another moment but moved aside to let Jane into the waiting room. "What do you want to talk about?"

Jane sat in one on the waiting room chairs and waited for Maura to sit down too as she tried to figure out how to say what she wanted to say. "Well, I've been thinking about, um, you, I guess, and I was wondering if you've considered that fact that being back in Boston could put you in danger. I mean, what if one of Patrick Doyle's enemies found out that you are his daughter and decided he could use you to get Doyle to come out of hiding or for blackmail or for something like that."

"I suppose it's a good thing Boston police officers have been following me around the clock then," Maura responded with a hint of amusement.

"You knew?" Jane said surprised.

Maura smiled. "Beginning when I was just a little girl when my father and I would drive somewhere, or even just walk somewhere, he would say, 'Maura, to be safe you should always pay attention to the people around you and make sure you aren't being followed.' And then he would show me how to check to see if anyone was tailing me. When I was a kid it was a like a game. But it became a habit and apparently it was worth remembering."

"The surveillance is over actually. You just have to believe that for a couple of days we thought you were very suspicious," Jane said with a smile.

"Is that an apology?" Maura said, the smile gone from her face.

"I can't apologize for doing my job. I'm just asking that you be on the lookout for anyone else following you or anything else suspicious, okay?"

Maura shrugged, "Sure."

"There's something else I wanted to talk to you about, also off the record, but I thought you might be in a position to help. I'm back working undercover for the rest of the week, like the first time we met, because we are trying to get information about a possible underage prostitution ring. There have been rumors and maybe a few pieces of solid information but we haven't gotten further than that. If you hear anything, you know, from people coming to this clinic that sounds like it should get checked out, please give me a call." Jane pulled a business card from her back pocket and held it out to Maura.

"Did you think I was involved in that somehow? Is that why you were following me?"

"No, of course not. I mean I didn't think anything. It was odd that I met you when you were out talking to hookers in the middle of the night. And then finding out you're Paddy Doyle's daughter, I wasn't sure what to think. So, uh, I'm sorry about the surveillance, but it was just a precautionary thing. And you know, it wasn't even my decision."

"I thought you weren't going to apologize?"

Jane sighed. "Yeah, I wasn't going to, but I find myself oddly concerned about what you think about me. Alright, well, seriously, call me if you hear anything. And stay safe, okay." Jane stood and made her way to the door.

"I find you very confusing, Jane Rizzoli."

Jane laughed lightly and said, "Just what a girl always wants to hear," before walking out the door.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Jane woke up Sunday afternoon after her last night undercover. She had a message on her phone from her Lieutenant saying they were going to figure out other angles for her and Frost to pursue on Monday. Maybe some of the other detectives would continue doing the undercover hooking, but it wasn't working for Jane. No one would tell her anything. Jane was happy to be able to stop dressing up as a hooker, but her pride was of course hurt. She hated failing at things, even if the thing she failed at was being a prostitute.

Jane decided she needed to go for a run, having barely seen the sun the past week. So she put on shorts and a tank top and ran out of her apartment building in the Fenway towards Park Drive. She had two options for where to run. Usually she ran north so she could run along the Charles River, but today she turned southwest to run the trails of the Emerald Necklace.

Jane ran south along Jamaicaway and then around the west side of Jamaica Pond before continuing into the Arboretum. She ran through the Arboretum to the top of Bussey Hill where she took a break, sitting down on the stone wall. During the winter, downtown Boston could be seen from this summit, but now in the middle of summer, all that could be seen was trees.

Jane was staring out over the trees when she felt someone sit down beside her. "Shit, I wasn't following you, I swear," Jane said as soon as she saw it was Maura, who also appeared to have been out for a run.

"I know. I would have noticed, remember? Also, I arrived here after you," Maura said slightly out of breath. "Do you come here a lot?"

"Usually I run along the Charles actually, but sometimes I come run here. You?"

"I run here and around the pond a lot. They're one of the reasons I chose to live in JP when I moved back to Boston."

"So, uh, everything was okay this week. Nothing suspicious or anything?"

Maura shook her head. "Everything was normal." After a few minutes of companionable silence, Maura said, "Jane?"

"Yeah?"

"Um, forget it. It was foolish."

"Come on, what is it?" Jane asked smirking.

Maura was silent for a moment but then said, "I was going to ask if you wanted to have dinner with me?"

"Oh," Jane said in surprise.

"See? It was silly," Maura said as she stood up.

"No, wait," Jane said as she grabbed Maura's wrist and stood up too. "It wasn't silly at all. I'm just surprised because I thought you wouldn't want to have anything to do with me after everything that happened the past few weeks. But I would really like to have dinner with you." When Maura still looked unsure, Jane said, "Seriously. How about tonight? I'm not working and I'm not on call, so I've got no excuses."

"Would it be weird if I suggested that you come over and I make dinner? I'm an excellent cook."

"Sure, that sounds great. I'm a terrible cook so I almost always just get take out. I can make a grilled cheese sandwich and that's about it."

"Eight o'clock?" Maura asked.

"Yeah, okay, I'll see you tonight, Maura."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

At eight o'clock that night Jane rang Maura's doorbell. Maura answered the door wearing a red and white dress and red peep toe high heels. "Oh geez," Jane said and looked down at her jeans, t-shirt and sneakers. "I'm incredibly under-dressed. Do you always dress like this around the house?"

"Please come in." Maura closed the door behind Jane and said, "I like to dress up. And don't worry, I think you look nice."

"You look amazing." Jane lifted up her hand holding a six pack and said, "I brought beer."

"Oh, okay. Why don't you come with me to the kitchen and we can put that in the fridge. I have a very nice wine that will go perfectly with the meal. Maybe we'll save the beer for later?"

Jane followed Maura to the kitchen and Maura put the beer in the fridge. "You don't drink beer do you?" Jane asked.

"I don't really care for it, no."

Jane laughed. "You really can't lie can you, even about the little stuff?"

"No I can't. Many people find it off-putting."

"I think it's refreshing. Well you look great and the food smells amazing, so I should probably try things your way tonight and try the wine. Can I help with anything?"

"Why don't you take this," Maura said and handed Jane a large bowl of salad. Maura pointed to the dining room and continued, "If you bring the salad in there I'll be just another minute."

Jane went into the dining room where a large table was set for two. Jane sat down, leaving the seat at the head of the table for Maura.

Maura came in shortly carrying two platters which she set down on the table. "Grilled swordfish and roasted sweet potatoes."

"Wow, fancy."

"It wasn't really that difficult and I enjoy cooking. I haven't had anyone over since I moved into this house. It's nice to have someone to cook for," Maura said simply.

Maura poured wine and there was a pleasant silence as both women ate, only interrupted by Jane saying how good everything tasted over and over. When they moved on to the salad Jane said, "So how does a girl from Southie end up at Harvard and become a doctor?"

Maura refilled their wine glasses and said, "It seems unfair that that you know so much about me and I know almost nothing about you."

"Okay, answer that one question and then I won't ask anything else and you can ask me whatever you want."

"I was kind of a weird kid. I spent a lot of time alone reading anything I could get my hands on." Maura shrugged and then looked down and blushed. "I like science." Maura looked up to see Jane smiling at her. "Don't laugh."

"I'm not laughing. I'm pretty sure I've never heard anyone say out loud 'I like science,' and it was adorable." Jane blushed, slightly embarrassed at having said that, but recovered and said, "Okay, your turn to ask me anything you want to."

Maura bit her bottom lip before saying, "This is awkward but when we ran into each other at the community service partnership dinner, you were there with someone. Casey, I think. Is he a boyfriend, or something?"

"Casey is an old friend, from high school actually. He's stationed in Afghanistan and he was visiting me when he was on leave, and we have fun together but we aren't in a relationship."

"Did you grow up in Boston?" Maura asked.

"Revere," Jane responded.

Maura smiled. "When I was a child my grandmother would take me to Revere Beach. It seemed like such an adventure at the time because we took a bus and the T to get there. Did you go there ever?"

"All the time. All summer long. I think it was the only way my Ma stayed sane during the summer. She could get my brothers and I out of the house and let us run around at the beach all day."

They had both finished eating. "I have ice cream if you want dessert," Maura said.

"I'm actually really full. The food was delicious."

"We can move into the living room then." Jane nodded and followed Maura into the next room. Maura took a seat at the end of the couch, tucking her legs demurely beneath her. Jane sat at the other end of the couch and laid her arm over the back of it.

"Is your family still in Revere or in the area?" Maura asked.

"My parents separated last year. Ma is still in Revere, for now anyway. I'm not sure if she'll be able to stay in the house. My father is wherever he wants to be. I haven't talked to him in months. My brother Frankie is also a Boston cop. And my other brother Tommy is in prison. He had a ... drunk driving problem. He might be out soon though and Ma will coddle him until he screwed up again."

"How did you decide to a be cop?"

"That's all I ever wanted to do since I was a kid. I just thought it was a way to help people I guess. The handcuffs and the gun are a nice bonus," Jane joked.

"Do you think you help people?" Maura asked.

"It's complicated, I guess. It turns out that when you're cop you mostly interact with criminals or people who were victims of a crime. It's not exactly returning stolen purses to old ladies. But I love my job. I hope one day I'll be promoted to Homicide. I think solving murders would be really meaningful. What about you? Why did you decide to open the clinic?"

"I wanted to help people. I grew up in South Boston and it seemed like a way to give back. Perhaps I thought I could somehow atone for the things my father did."

"You don't have to make up for his mistakes," Jane said.

"It's hard not to feel that way sometimes," Maura responded.

Jane looked at her watch and then stood up. "Um, this was all really great, but it's getting late and I should probably get going. Can I help you clean up?"

"No, I'll take care of everything. Let me walk you out."

Jane walked to the front door, followed by Maura. Jane opened the door and turned around in the doorway and said, "Thank you for dinner."

"You're welcome. Oh, do you want to take your beer?" Maura asked.

Jane didn't answer right away. Instead she stepped closer and pressed her lips to Maura's mouth. Her hand went to Maura's waist and she lightly rubbed the soft fabric of Maura's dress. Maura's lips parted slightly and Jane sucked softly on Maura's upper lip before pulling back. "Why don't you hold on to the beer? Maybe next time I'll get you to try some. Call me, okay?"

Maura nodded and closed the door behind Jane. She leaned against the closed door and smiled as she brushed her fingertips against her lips.


	4. Chapter 4

Maura Isles wasn't a daydreamer. She didn't get crushes. She also didn't invite people over to dinner, especially near strangers. And yet in the last week she had experienced all of these things because of Jane Rizzoli. At work and at home she would catch herself not paying attention to the person talking to her or what she was supposed to be reading, her mind having drifted to Jane.

Maura knew she was attracted to Jane, even from the first time she saw her when Jane was undercover and dressed as a prostitute. Looking into Jane's eyes that night, Maura had been sure that Jane wasn't actually a street hooker. There was too much warmth and life in Jane's eyes. The women Maura met at work who were working on the street had been worn down and beaten up by life and it showed on their bodies, especially in their eyes.

Inviting Jane over for dinner had been a spontaneous decision and up until the moment Jane kissed her, Maura wasn't really sure if Jane was attracted to her too. There were many signs that Jane was but there was also something about Jane, a sort of detachment and Maura wasn't sure what to make of it. Of course Maura had been kissed on dates before, but it had always been part of the dance, the game two people played when they were strangers but were attracted to each other. Jane didn't feel like a stranger, yet the kiss was entirely unexpected. It was over before Maura could fully appreciate it and Maura desperately wanted to do it again.

Maura had picked up the phone and pulled out Jane's card several times over the few days following their dinner, but she couldn't work up the courage to actually call Jane. She didn't know what she was supposed to say. She didn't what the expected protocol for this sort of thing was. And truthfully, Maura wasn't quite sure if calling Jane was a good idea. She liked Jane way too much, way too fast. It couldn't possibly be a good idea to feel so strongly attracted to someone so quickly.

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Jane Rizzoli didn't do relationships. She didn't get attached to people. She almost never went out on dates. Occasionally her mother would force someone on her and Jane would go on a date just to get her mother off her back for a few months. A relationship meant caring about someone else. When you cared about other people, it was just setting you up to be hurt. As a cop, sometimes it seemed like all Jane saw were people hurting the people they claimed to love. Jane loved her family but she could only really count on Ma and Frankie. People changed. People let you down. People disappointed you.

That's why Casey was so convenient and easy. He came to Boston about every six months. It was enough to keep her mother from bugging her about dating and grandchildren. It was enough to satisfy any urge to get laid. Jane knew that if she told Casey that she wanted more, that she wanted him home, he would make it happen. And he knew not to ever bring up that topic of conversation.

Since Sunday night Jane had been agitated and distracted. Jane had been thinking about kissing Maura since they talked at the community service dinner, but actually doing it created an unexpected repercussion. Now it seemed like the only thing Jane could think about was how and when she was going to get to kiss Maura again. Jane would be trying to focus on work and the thought of kissing Maura would pop into her head and a surge of arousal would course through her, leaving her flushed and wanting. She'd never experienced that before.

Jane kept checking her phone, hoping for a message from Maura. When she heard nothing after a few days Jane started getting concerned that she had made a mistake. Maybe she had misread everything and the kiss had been a huge mistake. Maybe Maura had only been interested in being friends and the kiss had fucked it up. Jane thought about calling Maura but all she had was the number of the clinic and calling that number seemed a little too eager and maybe a little too pathetic. So Jane kept waiting.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

At least work had gotten more interesting for Jane. Monday morning she and Frost met with the Lieutenant who gave them their new assignments now that they were not going to work the undercover angle. Everyone was frankly surprised that after several months the Special Task Force had found nothing and many people were beginning to think the rumored prostitution ring simply didn't exist.

Frost was asked to use his computer skills to see if he could find any information anywhere online. Jane was introduced to Detective Vince Korsak from the Homicide Division. Detective Korsak had caught the two murders of the unidentified girls. No progress had been made on even identifying them, let alone solving their murders so it was decided to pass responsibility for the cases to the Special Task Force. Detective Korsak was still assigned to the cases, but Jane was to take over primary responsibility for them.

Friday afternoon, though, they were no closer to figuring out the identity of the girls. Jane was sitting at her desk staring at her computer but not actually paying attention to anything when she got hit in the chest by a balled up piece of paper. She flinched and looked over at Frost and said, "What the hell, man?"

"I've been saying your name for thirty seconds. Your mind has been somewhere else all week. What's wrong with you?"

"Nothing's wrong other than the fact that I feel like I've accomplished absolutely nothing this week. Have you found anything at all?" Jane asked, trying to avoid Frost's question.

"Nope. I feel like we're chasing something that is just a figment of someone's imagination."

"I know. But these girls were real and they were killed. Choked to death according to the autopsy reports and dumped with no identification. No one has reported either one missing. Their fingerprints aren't in any database. There's no way their murders aren't at the very least related to each other."

"We'll figure it out," Frost said.

"I hope so."

"Any plans for this weekend?" Frost asked.

"Nope. You?"

"Jesus, Jane, stop holding out on me. You saw her right? Maura," Frost specified, lowering his voice. "You were all giddy on Monday and you've gotten more and more distracted since then. And now you keep looking at your phone. What happened?"

Jane sighed heavily and said, "We had dinner. I thought it went well but I haven't heard from her since."

"You should be glad," Frost said seriously. "What if you were dating her and you did something wrong and then Paddy Doyle appeared and started threatening you for hurting his daughter. That's too much trouble to have to worry about."

"That's completely ridiculous."

"Whatever. Think about it. You don't need that crap in your life."

Jane just shook her head and went back to staring at her computer and thinking about what she wanted to do next with regards to Maura.

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When Maura arrived home Friday evening she found Jane sitting on her front steps. Once Maura was standing in front of her, Jane stood and said, "I'm sorry."

"For what?" Maura asked.

"I don't know. For whatever I did wrong. I just wanted to tell you that there's no hard feelings or anything. I don't know why you didn't call, but in case it wasn't clear, I like you, Maura. I thought, I don't know, that we kind of connected."

"You didn't do anything wrong. I wanted to call you, but every time I picked up the phone I got nervous and I didn't know what to say, so I didn't call."

"Really?" Jane said disbelievingly. "You couldn't just say, 'I had a nice time, let's have dinner again?'"

Maura shook her head. "Jane, I like you. More than I probably should. I'm sure it sounds silly to you, but I don't know how to do this. I don't have friends. I don't like to let people get close to me, for what are probably obvious reasons. I've only had one serious relationship since college and it was in Ethiopia with a man who I think had more to hide than I did. You know so many things about me and it scares me how much it doesn't bother me."

Jane held up the bag that she had left sitting on the porch. "I brought food, uh, Chinese take-out. Do you think we can move this conversation inside?"

"Okay, but I should really heat that food up again before we eat. Bacteria grows alarmingly quickly in warm food." Maura led Jane inside the house and pulled out dishes and put food in the microwave. When the food was ready Maura said, "Shall we eat on the back porch? It's quite nice out tonight."

"Sure, that sounds nice," Jane responded.

"Would you grab a couple of beers from the fridge?" Maura added. "The bottle opener is in the drawer next to the fridge."

Jane opened two bottles of beer and brought them with her food to the back porch where Maura had a small table with two chairs that overlooked a small backyard. They ate in silence for a few minutes before Jane said, "Maura, what did you mean when you said you like me more than you should?"

Maura put down her chopsticks and thought for a moment before responding. "I barely know you and yet I feel like I could happily spend hours and hours on end with you. I'm not accustomed to feeling so comfortable with other people the way I do with you. I'm used to feeling quite uncomfortable around other people."

Jane nodded and said, "I feel the same way, I mean about how much I like you already. It's, uh, unusual for me. So, I understand. But I do like you a lot and I'd like to continue to get to know you better."

"I'd like that too."

"So how exactly can you be a doctor and talk about the intimate details of people's lives if you are so uncomfortable with them?" Jane asked.

"Sheer willpower," Maura said and then laughed. "Or perhaps it's self-loathing or some sort of self-punishment. This type of medicine wasn't my first choice. I would have preferred something that involved less interaction with patients. But I felt like I should try to give back in some way."

"You haven't touched your beer," Jane said, trying to turn the conversation to a lighter topic.

"Ah, well, I haven't quite gotten thirsty enough yet."

"Come on. You can't possibly think beer is that bad."

"In Ethiopia, the only alcohol available was a local beer that was absolutely terrible. But we drank it because it was the only thing to drink. When there are so many other options it's hard to think about drinking beer now," Maura explained.

"Why don't I get you something else?" Jane offered.

"No, let me give it a try." Maura took a dainty sip of the beer and then looked at Jane in surprise. "Mmm, that's actually delicious."

"Well, yeah, that's kinda the point." Jane stood up and started stacking their empty plates and said, "Let me clean these up." Before Maura could object Jane was already halfway to the kitchen.

When Jane returned Maura had moved to the yard and she was looking up at the sky. "The only thing I really miss about Ethiopia is the sky at night. We could see so many stars."

"I'm sure it was beautiful."

Maura looked over at Jane, expecting to see her looking up at the sky, but Jane was looking directly at her.

"What do you like to do for fun?" Jane asked. "And I don't mean read medical journals."

"I like to go dancing."

"Oh boy," Jane said, smiling and shaking her head.

"You don't dance?" Maura asked.

"I'm an uncoordinated mess."

"I don't believe you. I'll have to see it for myself. I like to do almost anything outdoors."

"I have a family thing tomorrow but would you like to do something on Sunday afternoon?" Jane asked.

"What do you have in mind?"

"I'm not quite sure yet. Can I see your phone?" Maura took her phone from her pocket and handed it to Jane. Jane dialed her number on Maura's phone and then saved Maura's number. "If it's okay, I'll let you know tomorrow."

Maura stepped closer to Jane. "That's fine."

"I should go," Jane said.

"Not yet," Maura responded. She moved closer, placing her hand around the back of Jane's neck and pulling Jane's face down. Maura pressed her lips to Jane's and moaned softly when Jane threaded both of her hands into her hair. Maura pressed her tongue forward between Jane's parted lips. Jane slowly moved her hands down Maura's back to her waist and pulled their bodies together as they tentatively explored each other's mouths.

When they finally parted Maura said, "I've been thinking about doing that all week."

"Me too. I'll see you Sunday." Jane pressed one more chaste kiss to Maura's lips before leaving.


	5. Chapter 5

"Ma," Jane called out as she entered the house she grew up in Saturday morning. "Where are you?"

"Upstairs," Angela yelled back.

Jane went upstairs and found Angela in her childhood room. "Hey, Ma," Jane said and gave her mother a kiss on the cheek. "What's the plan?"

"I just want to clean this place up. Anything that was yours I want you to go through and see if you want or not. And I want your help going through the basement. I've accepted that your father is not coming back but I don't want to have to look at all of his junk anymore. I just want to get it out of the house."

"Okay."

"I wish I could move," Angela added.

"I know Ma, but the mortgage is paid off so this is your cheapest housing option right now. When the housing market picks back up we can look into selling it, but your just gonna have to deal for now.

"Honey, I wish you would consider moving back in."

"You know I can't do that."

"You're afraid your mother will cramp your style," Angela said in that way she had perfected to make it sound like her children were ungrateful for everything she had ever done with them.

Jane rolled her eyes. "First of all, you know perfectly well that if we lived together we would kill each other within days. And it's better for work where I live," Jane continued knowing the first point wouldn't be enough for her mother. "And adults don't live with their parents."

"Tommy is moving back in," Angela said.

"Because he needs a place to live so he doesn't violate his parole and so he can get a job. But you need to not baby him so he can get his shit together and eventually get his own place."

"There's no rush, and I don't want you trying to make Tommy feel bad about everything."

"Ma, he's gonna walk all over you if you let him. I just want him to grow up so he doesn't end up back in prison. I can go through the stuff in this room anytime, why don't we both go work in the basement. I'll just bring everything we don't want to the dump. I've got the truck."

"I wish you'd get rid of that truck," Angela said as they made their way downstairs and then to the basement.

"We can't just get rid of everything that reminds us of Pop. It's not practical. And the truck is also paid for which is why I still have it."

"I know. I just wish you would get a more feminine car," Angela said.

It was so preposterous that Jane could only shake her head and laugh. Jane was never the girly girl her mother had wanted and sometimes Angela's desire came out in the weirdest ways. The first time Jane had dated a woman, back when she was in the police academy, she told her mother that she liked men and women. Angela had taken the news in complete silence, which freaked Jane out more than any other possible response would have. Jane had tried to break the silence with a joke, saying, "Maybe this way you'll get the daughter you always wanted." That had broken Angela out of her daze. She wrapped Jane in a tight hug and said, "You're my daughter and I love you just the way you are." Whenever her mother was driving her crazy, Jane would just think about that conversation.

Angela turned on all the lights in the basement and they both took in the rows and rows of boxes of god knows what that had accumulated over the almost 40 years her parents had lived in the house. Jane and Angela each dug in, putting things into keep and throw out piles and consulting with each other when they weren't sure.

Thinking about that long ago conversation brought Jane's thoughts to Maura. She had to figure out what she wanted to invite Maura to do tomorrow. She had some thoughts but was afraid they veered toward being too corny. Maura seemed sophisticated and Jane didn't want to Maura to think she was uninteresting. But Maura seemed down to earth too.

Jane made up her mind. "Ma, I'm gonna take a load of the trash out to the truck," Jane said and carried two trash bags upstairs and outside.

Once outside Jane called Maura.

"Hello, Jane," Maura answered her phone.

"Hey, uh, how are you?" Jane responded.

"I'm good. How are you?"

"Good. So, about tomorrow, what do you think about going to the beach tomorrow afternoon?" Jane asked.

"That sounds nice. What beach?"

"I was thinking Revere Beach, for old time's sake. Unless you there's somewhere else you wanna go."

"I think it sounds fun," Maura agreed.

They finished making plans and Jane went back to work in the basement.

Angela watched Jane closely for a while before saying, "You're in a good mood today. I think I heard you actually humming earlier. Are you going to tell me about him?"

"Ma, we talked about this."

"Fine, are you going to tell me about him or her? When do I get to meet this person?"

"Thanks, but that's not what I meant. I told you that I can't tell you about people I meet until I know if it has the potential to go anywhere. And you can't nag me about meeting them. People don't want to meet someone's parents when they've only gone on a few dates. It's weird."

"That doesn't mean you can't talk about it. Just tell me one thing about this person," Angela pleaded.

"No."

"Please?"

Jane gave an exaggerated sigh. "Fine. She's a doctor."

Angela raised her eyebrows. "And where did you meet her?"

"Um, it's kinda a long story and you already got all the information you're going to get right now anyway."

"Okay, okay," Angela conceded, putting her hands up in acknowledgment that she wasn't going to ask anymore and they went back to cleaning.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

On Sunday, Jane picked Maura up mid-afternoon and drove toward the beach.

"Did you know that Revere Beach is the oldest public beach in the U.S.?" Maura asked.

"I did not know that."

"It opened in 1895," Maura explained. "A landscape architect named Charles Eliot was chosen to design Revere Beach Reservation for public use. In 1925 the world's largest and fastest roller coaster at the time was built here. And in the 1930s, dance marathons that lasted all summer were held at Revere Beach."

"Why would you know all that? And remember it?" Jane said.

Maura shrugged but didn't say anything.

Jane reached over and poked Maura's shoulder. "Hey, I'm just joking. I'm sorry, I tend to be sarcastic. I like your facts. I just don't know how you have room for all those facts in your brain."

"There's no known limit to the amount of information that can fit into a human brain. It's seems to me nearly impossible to quantify but scientists think we may be using as little as 10% of our brain power. Can you imagine what humans could accomplish if we could harness just a fraction of the unused brain capacity."

"Knowing humans, all that energy would probably go into porn or making sex robots or something," Jane said. At the next stoplight Jane took the opportunity to fully look Maura over. Maura was wearing a white sundress with her hair tied back in a loose bun. "You look gorgeous today," Jane said.

Maura looked at Jane for a moment, as if checking to see if Jane was joking, before saying, "Thank you."

"You make me look like a slob," Jane continued, gesturing to her simple outfit of shorts and t-shirt.

"Don't be silly. You are extremely aesthetically pleasing," Maura responded and it was Jane's turn to look at Maura to see if she was joking.

A few minutes later, Jane pulled the truck over and said, "Wait here for a minute. I'm gonna grab some food for later." She ran into the restaurant across the street and came out a minute later with a bag that she put in the cooler that was in the back of the truck.

"That was fast," Maura said when Jane was back inside the truck.

"Yeah, I know someone in the kitchen. I already had our order called in."

"What did you get?"

"When you go to Revere Beach you gotta eat roast beef sandwiches."

Maura raised an eyebrow. "And if I don't like roast beef?"

"I got a grilled chicken sandwich and a veggie wrap too, just in case. I had a feeling you might want something on the healthier side."

"How thoughtful," Maura said. Jane looked over at her to see Maura smiling, her mouth closed which accentuated her dimples. Jane was beginning to recognize it as how Maura smiled when she was amused at something.

Jane drove farther north along Revere Beach Boulevard to where it tended to be a little less crowded and found a parking space. They decided to take a walk along the beach first. They walked in the sand along the water until Jane stopped and took off her sandals and waded into the water. Maura did the same, putting a hand around Jane's bicep to steady herself to take off her sandals. She kept her hand in place as they walked in the water a while longer before turning around and walking back to the truck.

"I haven't been here in almost twenty years," Maura said on their walk back.

"What do you think?"

"It feels smaller than I remember, and maybe a little grittier," Maura said with a laugh.

Jane laughed too. "That's a word for it. Are you ready for some food?" Jane asked as they approached their starting place.

"Sure."

Jane grabbed the cooler and a blanket from the truck and they found a spot in the sand to spread out the blanket. They both sat and Jane opened the cooler and said, "What's your sandwich pick?"

"In the spirit of the day I think I have to choose the roast beef."

"Good choice." Jane took out two sandwiches and two waters and they ate. Jane asked a few questions about the grandmother Maura had mentioned had taken her to beach as a kid. Maura answered the basic questions but didn't elaborate and Jane let it go.

When Maura finished eating she leaned back onto her elbows and looked out over the water. "The ocean is surprisingly beautiful here," she said wistfully. "It feels like we're miles and miles from the city."

Jane mirrored her position initially, but then turned on her side, propped on one elbow, towards Maura. "I was thinking about your story about your father teaching you how to tell if you're being tailed and I remembered something my brother Frankie and I used to do as kids. When we were in public places, like when we were here, we would play a game where we would follow someone and see how long it took until it seemed like they noticed us."

"How long did that usually take?" Maura asked.

"I don't think anyone ever noticed we were following them. Who cares what two kids are doing? But I don't know how we came up with the idea to do that. Must have been from TV or movies or something."

"Frankie is your brother whose also a police officer right?"

"Yeah."

"So you were both training to be cops back then," Maura said.

"I guess. Is that what your father was doing, training you?"

"I don't think so. He kept the true nature of his business hidden from me. I don't think he intended for me to ever know what he did, let alone take over his business."

"What else did you teach you?" Jane asked.

Maura thought for a moment before saying, "Do you want to know what he said about cops?"

Jane nodded.

"He said that they were all either incompetent or corrupt and I shouldn't trust them no matter what."

Jane laughed. "And what do you think?"

Maura looked directly at Jane and appeared to be thinking for a moment. "You're the only cop I've ever known, and I don't know what to think yet."

"Fair enough," Jane said.

"Did you know that in 1919 Boston police officers went on strike?"

"I've heard of it."

"Downtown Boston erupted into chaos with people destroying and looting businesses, robbing people on the street, and other petty crimes. There were even stories that women were being raped in the street, although that seems to have been an hysteria induced rumor rather than fact."

"So are you saying that police serve a role in society?"

"I think it suggests that for some percentage of the population what we think of as morality isn't enough and that the threat of punishment is needed to prevent them from breaking the law," Maura responded. "And then there is another percentage of people for whom that threat isn't enough."

"Sounds like something you've given a lot of thought to."

"I wouldn't say a lot of thought, but some. I would have thought you would have thought about this too given your job."

Jane shrugged. "I work narcotics and vice. People want drugs or money or sex. Those are powerful motivators."

"Do you think it's always that simple?"

"I'm sure if I make homicide detective it'll be different. People seem to manage to find all kinds of reasons to kill each other. But I actually think that we should talk about something else, like how stunning you look today."

"You mentioned that already," Maura said with that amused smile again playing on her lips.

"It bears repeating."

"Are you always so charming?"

"No, it's actually pretty rare. Something about you brings it out."

"I think it's time for us to relocate somewhere more private," Maura suggested.

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They decided to go to Maura's house and on the drive there Maura stated her intention to shower immediately to rinse off the sand and salt water. Once at the house Maura directed Jane to the guest bathroom on the first floor so she could take a shower too and then went upstairs.

Jane showered quickly and changed into jeans a fresh t-shirt she had with her in case she got a work call. She hadn't bothered to wash her hair, but she pulled it out of the ponytail she'd worn to the beach and ran her fingers through it, loosening her curls.

Jane moved into the living room and since Maura wasn't back yet she looked through the items on the bookshelves in the room. It was mostly medical books and journals, along with travel books and novels. There didn't seem to be any personal items Jane noted. There were no pictures or mementos.

"Hi," Maura said from behind Jane.

Jane turned around and said, "Jesus," when she saw Maura wearing a simple black dress that was little more than a slip.

"What's wrong?" Maura asked.

"Nothing at all. I guess I just expected you to change into something more relaxed and comfortable."

"This is comfortable for me," Maura said.

"Oh. Cool. It's nice."

"Would you like something to drink?"

"No, I'm good."

Maura took Jane's hand and pulled her over to the couch. Jane sat down and Maura perched on her knees next to Jane. Maura reached a hand to Jane's face and tucked her hair behind her ear and then traced her fingertips over Jane's cheek and lips. "You have a perfectly symmetrical face."

Jane leaned forward into Maura's touch.

Maura's hand continued its path to Jane's shoulder and down her arm. "And you have incredibly impressive musculature.

Jane leaned in further and they kissed. Where their other kisses had been soft and gentle, this one was demanding on both sides. Mouths parted and tongues dueled. Jane broke the kiss and moved her mouth to Maura's neck and kissed a trail down to Maura's collar bone. But Maura shifted and used the leverage being on her knees gave her to push Jane backwards so she was lying on her back on the couch.

Maura followed, laying down on top of Jane and capturing her lips in another kiss. Maura pressed one thigh between Jane's legs causing Jane to moan into Maura's mouth.

Maura moved her lips to Jane's neck, slowly kissing and sucking across Jane's jaw and neck, while one hand tangled itself in Jane's long curls. Her other hand found its way under the hem of Jane's shirt and played across Jane's abdominal muscles before moving up to rub and squeeze a bra-clad breast.

Jane's hands had gripped Maura's waist when she laid down on top of her and Jane had intended to keep her hands in place until Maura's hands had started wandering. Now Jane moved her hands up along Maura's sides and grazed her thumbs across Maura's breasts. Then her hands traveled down to Maura's legs, brushing the bare skin of Maura's thighs as she pulled the hem of Maura's dress up and gripped Maura's ass.

It was Maura's turn to moan and she moved her mouth back to Jane's lips. At that moment there was a vibrating noise beneath them and Maura pulled back and said, "I think your phone is ringing."

"Shit, shit, shit," Jane said as Maura moved off of her so Jane could locate the phone. "Shit. I'm sorry but it's work," Jane said as she stood and moved away from the couch. She answered the phone with, "Rizzoli."

"It's Detective Korsak," the voice on the other end of the call said. "We just got a call about a body, another young woman. It sounds like it could be related to our other murders. I'm on my way there now."

"You want me to come to the scene?" Jane asked.

"Yeah, come on kid, you're on these murders now. Marine Park in South Boston, near the intersection of Broadway and William Day Boulevard."

"Okay, I'm on my way." Jane ended the call and looked over at Maura who was still sitting on the couch, looking slightly disheveled. "Shit, Maura, I'm really sorry, but this is the first time I've been called to a homicide crime scene. As much as I really want to stay, I should go. It's a big opportunity for me."

Maura brushed a hand through her hair. "It's okay. We probably went far enough already tonight."

"Yeah, sorry," Jane offered meekly.

"That's not what I meant. I like you and I don't want us to move too fast."

"I'm still sorry I have to leave. I'll call you when I can." Jane went in for one more kiss before leaving.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Jane drove to the location Korsak gave her and found him standing over the body taking notes. Jane looked the body over and then turned away as the feeling of nausea rolled through her body. She took a few steps away and took a few deep breaths before returning to Korsak's side.

"Is this your first body?" Korsak asked.

"Yeah."

"It's okay to be upset about it. It's actually a good thing, it shows you're human. When you no longer are affected by it, that's when it's time to worry."

A crime scene tech that was walking around the scene called out, "Detectives, there's another body over here, behind these bushes."

Jane and Korsak climbed over the bushes and found a man on his back with something protruding from his chest.

"Shit," Korsak said upon seeing the body.

"What the hell is that?" Jane asked, squatting down for a closer look at what appeared to be the murder weapon.

"An ice pick," Korsak responded.

"Should that mean something to me?"

"I haven't seen one in at least ten years," Korsak answered. "It's Paddy Doyle's calling card."


	6. Chapter 6

Maura didn't see or hear from Jane for the next five days other than the occasional text message saying that she was sorry she hadn't called but that she was completely tied up at work. Maura didn't mind all that much. A little distance after their last date seemed prudent. Maura was wary of jumping into things too fast with Jane. She'd done that with previous relationships and they hadn't ended well. But Jane was constantly at the forefront of her thoughts all week.

Maura was roused from these thoughts Friday evening by a knock at her door. She wasn't expecting anyone and she since she had moved back to Boston, Jane was the only person she really socialized with. Maura went to open the door with some hope that it was Jane, but instead found herself face to face with someone she had last seen in Ethiopia.

"Ian? What are you doing here?" Maura asked the man standing in her doorway.

"I'm here to see you, of course," Ian said as he entered Maura's house.

"How did you find me?" Maura asked, closing the door behind him.

"It wasn't that hard, darling," Ian said and stepped closer to Maura. He placed a hand on Maura's cheek.

"Why didn't you tell me you were coming?"

"I didn't know if I was," Ian said softly before bending down and claiming Maura's lips with his own. Maura kissed him back and Ian grabbed Maura's thighs and picked her up. Ian carried Maura to the couch and put her down on her back and lowered himself on top of her. "God, I missed you," Ian said.

Maura pushed him back when he tried to kiss her again and said, "Where have you been?"

"We don't have to talk about it now."

"Ian, you disappeared two months before we were scheduled to leave Ethiopia, leaving nothing more than a note saying that you were okay. You didn't tell anyone where you went and now you just show up on my doorstep like that never happened. I think I deserve to get a few answers."

Ian relented and moved off of Maura, allowing her to sit up. "I heard that there were people in need in another location, people who couldn't get to our clinic. So the night I disappeared I took the supplies I could carry and I went there. I've been traveling around doing the same thing since then."

"You could have told me."

"You would have tried to stop me," Ian argued.

"You could have asked me to go with you," Maura countered.

"It's too dangerous. The areas I'm going have no organized government, no protections for foreigners. I wouldn't put you at risk like that."

"So why are you here now?" Maura asked.

"I need more supplies. I'm hoping to find a steady supplier and then I'm going back."

"I see."

"And I wanted to see you. That's why I came to Boston. Maura, I'm only here for a few days, let's make the most of them."

"I'm happy to see you. To know that you're alive and well. But you can't just show up and expect everything to go back to the way it was." Maura stood and said, "The guest room is down the hall. You can stay there as long as you need to. I'm going upstairs."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Maura sat in bed for a while just thinking. It was still early but she had changed into a nightie and gotten into bed. She wasn't in the mood for anymore conversation with Ian. When Maura first came back from Ethiopia she frequently imagined Ian showing up at her door. Despite the hurt of Ian essentially abandoning her, she still loved him and would have gladly welcomed him back into her life. Time had changed her feelings.

Maura took out her phone and sent Jane a text that said, "Are you free for a nightcap?"

A moment later she received a text back from Jane that said, "Sorry I'm completely swamped. Maybe this later weekend."

Maura put the phone down, brought her knees to her chest and rested her head on her arms folded across her knees. A few minutes later she heard a soft knock on her bedroom door and looked over to see Ian standing in the doorway wearing nothing more than his boxer briefs. Maura smiled softly as she said, "You were always persistent."

"And you always made me work for it, at least at first. Are you going to make me beg tonight?" Ian asked.

Maura took her time before shaking her head and laying back, moving the covers aside. "No, I'm not going to make you beg."

Ian moved into the room and sat down on the bed facing Maura. She pulled her nightie over her head and tossed it aside. That's all it took for Ian to get hard.

"Eager?" Maura asked.

"It's been a while," he responded as he pulled his underwear off.

"In the drawer," Maura said. Ian pulled out a condom and put it on. He moved between Maura's legs and wasted no time before pushing inside her.

"You're all I've thought about for months," Ian said.

Maura didn't respond immediately. It certainly wasn't unpleasant to be with Ian again, but "nice" was the best description Maura could come up with at the moment. Whatever magic had existed between them before was gone. She was sure of that now.

Maura raised a hand to Ian's face and said, "We can't do this anymore."

Ian stopped his movements. "What?"

"You don't have to stop now but this is the last time we can have sex. Things are different now. I'm different now and I'm not going to spend my life waiting for you."

"Shit." Ian hung his head and moved off of Maura.

"I'm sorry."

"I get it. It was foolish of me to expect this to be so simple." Ian leaned against the headboard next to Maura for a moment. "Perhaps tomorrow we can spend some time together just as friends?"

"I would like that."

Ian pressed a kiss to Maura's forehead and then grabbed his briefs from the floor and went back downstairs.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Jane sighed as she put her cell phone down after responding to Maura's text. She was sitting at home, and while she was technically working, there was nothing so pressing that she couldn't have seen Maura tonight. A large part of her was very interested in picking up where they left off on Sunday. But she had been delaying seeing Maura until she figured out what, if anything, she was going to say about this latest case. Because, "Hey, your father might be back in town and he's a suspect in a murder," didn't seem like a good idea. But hiding the information from Maura was equally problematic. And then there was the possibility that Maura knew exactly where her father was which was an unsettling thought that Jane didn't want to contemplate.

The week had been busy. Jane had attended her first two autopsies and had managed not to throw-up at either of them. The young woman, whom they hadn't been able to identify, had been strangled, just like the other two unidentified women. The male victim had died from the ice pick puncturing his heart. There were no fingerprints on the ice pick, but the victim had been identified as Nicholas Massino, a mid-level member of the Boston wing of the Italian mafia.

The Irish mob dominated organized crime in Boston but the Italian mafia was always lurking, waiting for a chance to jump on an opportunity. There was nothing to tie Massino to the dead woman, other than the fact that they were found in the same location. But that fact gave them a new avenue to investigate and re-energized the prostitution task force. While Jane was working the murders with Korsak, the task force put officers onto following known associates of Massino. Frost was tasked with investigating property owned by anyone Massino could possible know.

On Monday Korsak had handed Jane a thick file, copy of Patick Doyle's file, and said, "I assume you've heard of him."

"Of course. But I was in high school when he disappeared, or maybe it was right after. All I really know is rumor, though," Jane answered. It was true, it just wasn't quite the whole truth.

"There's no rush," Korsak said. "But you should look at that when you get a chance. The ice pick could be a diversion, or a set-up, of course. Or it could signal Doyle's return from hiding. Regardless, there's a mob connection to the murders now so you should read up on the players. I'll have some other files copied for you too."

"Of course," Jane had answered but she spent most of the week doing her best to ignore the file. It wasn't until Saturday night that she finally sat down with the file and a six pack of beer at her small dining table that served more like her home office and opened the file to look through the details on Patrick Doyle.

There was a long list of criminal activities, from loan sharking and money laundering to extortion, arms trading, and drug dealing. Not to mention a long list of murders linked to Doyle, either believed to have been committed by him personally or ordered by him. The victims were all members of rival gangs, by no means upstanding citizens themselves. And all were found with an ice pick in their chest.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Sunday evening, Jane had a rather subdued dinner with her mother and Frankie after they both continued to help Angela clean out the house. Mercifully, Angela was restrained with her questioning about Jane's personal life after Jane told her that she was preoccupied with the details of the cases she was working. Also not a lie, just not quite the whole truth.

After leaving her mother's house, Jane decided she didn't want to delay any longer and went to Maura's house. Without having any idea what she would reveal, if anything, Jane knocked on Maura's door.

Maura opened the door and upon seeing it was Jane smiled brightly and waved Jane inside with a quick, "Hi."

"Hey. Sorry to just drop by, but I wanted to see you," Jane said she entered the house.

At that moment Ian came out of the guest room, wearing jeans but no shirt, and saying, "Hey Maura, do you have any normal toothpaste? Oh, sorry," he continued when he saw Jane.

Jane did nothing to hide her surprise and she and Ian eyed each other warily. "You have shirtless company," Jane said.

Maura put her hand on Jane's arm and said, "Jane, this is Ian. We were in Ethiopia together. He's just in town for a few days."

Jane turned her attention back to Maura and said, "I guess I should have called first."

"No, you shouldn't have. Let's go to the back porch and we can talk," Maura said with a look towards Ian that sent him back into the guest room without another word.

Jane let Maura lead her to the porch and took a seat in one of the chairs on the porch. Maura stood across from her, leaning against the porch railing.

When Maura didn't say anything at first, Jane asked, "Should I be jealous?"

Maura looked down at the floor.

"Oh, I see."

"No you don't. Let me explain. I just want to make sure I express myself correctly."

"Maura, we barely know each other, you don't owe me any explanation," Jane said softly.

Maura finally looked up at Jane and said, "Indulge me then, as a friend."

Jane nodded.

Maura took another moment before saying, "I was in love with him. When we were together in Ethiopia I imagined us having a long future together. But he left and then I moved back here and I got over him. And I've been happy without him. He showed up Friday night, without any warning, and that brought up a lot of feelings. I just needed to see if there was any spark left."

"Was there?" Jane asked.

"No."

"And if there had been a spark?"

"I probably would have convinced him to let me go with him wherever he's going next," Maura answered honestly.

Jane shook her head. "Wow, you don't half-ass things, do you?"

"No I don't. But I'm not going anywhere."

"Good, I'm glad. I kinda like having you around."

"I'm glad to see you. Do you want to stay tonight?"

Jane laughed before saying, "Uh, while he's still here? I don't think that's a good idea. Tomorrow? Unless something comes up at work, do you wanna have dinner?"

"Yes."

Jane stood and gave Maura a kiss on the cheek. "I'll see you tomorrow then," she said and then left.


	7. Chapter 7

Monday evening, Jane and Maura sat in a restaurant just a few blocks from Jane's apartment. Jane had asked Maura where she wanted to eat and Maura had said, "Oh, there's a new French Caribbean fusion restaurant in your neighborhood I want to try," so that's where they ended up.

Jane had taken one look at the menu when they sat down and finding it all in French said, "Why don't you order for me? Just nothing too exotic." So far at least the beer was good.

After Maura ordered for them both, Jane asked, "So, how's Dr. Africa?"

"Ian is gone. He was only ever planning on staying a few days."

"Is that difficult for you?"

Maura took her time before answering. "I loved him. I still love him to a certain extent. For a long time I thought he was the one. He's a good man, but to be with him I would have had to accept that his work would always be more important to him than me."

"You deserve better than that," Jane said.

Maura cleared her throat. "Can you tell me about the case you've been working on?" Maura asked. "I mean, if you want to talk about it, but I also don't know if you're allowed to."

"Remember, I told you we were looking for an underage prostitution ring. There have been murders that we believe are connected. Last Sunday night was the third. All young women, teenagers or a little older. They've been dumped in public locations, all strangled to death. But we haven't been able to identify any of them."

"That's so terrible."

"But there was a second body with the most recent girl. A man we were able to identify. We don't know if their deaths were related but it's given us a new avenue of investigation." Jane paused before adding, "He was killed in a particularly brutal way."

"How?" Maura asked with real curiosity.

"An ice pick to the heart," Jane said, watching for Maura's reaction.

Maura gasped slightly but it seemed to Jane like genuine surprise at the method of murder. The waiter arrived with their food and Maura waited until he was gone before saying, "Stabbing someone like that is so intimate, isn't it?"

Jane immediately regretted adding the info about the ice pick. She remembered the conversation when Maura said she didn't know what her father's crimes were. Now it felt wrong that Jane had read Paddy Doyle's entire folder and Maura wasn't aware of that either. It felt like a betrayal of Maura's trust. "Yes, it is, and not very pleasant talk for dinner. I don't know why I brought it up. Tell me about your clinic. How is it going?"

"Oh, I would say it's going very well. We've been very busy and are starting to develop a regular patient panel. Actually I'm hoping that soon I can hire another doctor, maybe even two, and then I can just focus the administrative side of the clinic. Raising money, things like that."

"Would you prefer that?" Jane asked.

"Yes, I think so."

They continued chatting about Maura's clinic during the rest of dinner. After dinner, they walked the few blocks to Jane's apartment together. "Thank you for suggesting that restaurant," Jane said. "I'm not very adventurous when picking food on my own, but that was very good. I really liked it."

"I'm glad you enjoyed it. I like to cook. I also like to go out, but when I do it's nice to eat something that I probably wouldn't be able to make for myself. You don't cook at all, do you?"

"No, to my mother's eternal shame. This is embarrassing but she still usually makes me four or five dinners each week. She freezes them so I just have to heat them up. In the oven of course, never in the microwave. I'm not completely hopeless."

"I think it's sweet that she does that for you."

"She's a little lost if she doesn't have someone to fuss over."

"I think you're lucky," Maura said sincerely.

Jane let that go without comment. "Will you come inside?" Jane asked when they arrived at her building.

Maura hesitated before saying, "Yes, but I shouldn't stay long."

"Come up for a few minutes and I'll call you a cab."

Maura agreed and Jane led her upstairs. Maura looked around the apartment briefly and said, "Your apartment is so nice."

"You don't have to sound so surprised," Jane responded.

"This is the first time you've invited me to your home. I wasn't sure what to expect."

"Just give me a second. I need to use the bathroom and I'll call a cab," Jane said and stepped into the bathroom.

Maura moved into the living room and took in the bookshelves full of mementos and family pictures. "I think your apartment is very nice," she said when Jane returned.

Jane came up behind Maura and put her hands on Maura's waist. She buried her nose in Maura's hair and said, "You smell really good. Did you know that?"

"I certainly try. I have a very specific beauty regimen. But scent is a very powerful indicator of attraction. You may have been attracted to me based solely on my scent."

"Do you think people can be attracted to each other based just on smell, like without even seeing each other?"

"That's what some scientists researching scent have found. They also found people are more attracted to the scent of people who are the most genetically dissimilar to them, which makes sense from an evolutionary standpoint."

Jane was absentmindedly rubbing her fingers on Maura's waist. "I don't believe it."

"You believe you can be attracted to someone just by sight, right? Why would smell be any different?"

"Sure, but only on a purely physical level. I don't think that's enough for a relationship. How can anyone even study that?"

Maura leaned back into Jane's body. "I was attracted to you the first time I saw you."

"When I was pretending to be a hooker?" Jane said incredulously.

"I knew you weren't really a prostitute. I could see it in your eyes. I thought your eyes were beautiful."

Jane pressed her lips to Maura's neck and kissed up to her ear. In a low voice she said, "I thought you were gorgeous the first time I saw you. The second time we met and actually talked I thought you were kind of odd, but interesting. When I came to talk to you at your clinic, both times actually, even though it wasn't under the best circumstances, you were warm and open in a way I found incredibly attractive."

Maura turned in Jane's arms and put her arms around Jane's neck. "I want to have sex with you."

"Uh, good? I feel like there's a qualification to that statement coming though."

"I wanted to make sure that was clear to you. But I also find myself hesitating to take that step with you."

"Can I ask why?"

Maura pulled away and sat down on Jane's couch. "I'm quite adept at sex without emotional consequences. When there's an emotional attachment, when it means something, I run into trouble. It feels like the stakes are higher and it makes me terribly nervous. And sometimes I jump into things too quickly. Ian's surprise visit reminded me, not that we need to slow down, but that I need to take my time and not move too quickly this time."

Jane followed Maura to the couch. "You know, you could stay the night with me without there being an expectation of sex. We could just, uh, cuddle."

Maura shook her head. "That's what terrifies me. Not the sex, it's everything else. All of the relationship stuff."

"Oh. I'm not sure I really understand but I want you to be comfortable. I mean, there's no rush."

"No?" Maura said with the hint of a smile.

Jane laughed. "Trust me, I want you. But I can wait, if it's important to you to wait."

"Trust you?" Maura said softly.

Jane grimaced slightly. "It was just a figure of speech."

"I know, but I think it's part of my problem. How do you know when to trust someone? I never know."

"I don't think it's something you necessarily know, like you would know a fact. It's just a gut feeling."

Maura tilted her head to the side and said, "Your gut doesn't have feelings."

"Mine does. Look, I don't, I mean...do you want me back off?"

Maura reached over and took Jane's hand. "No, I don't want you to change anything at all. I simply wanted to explain where I'm at." There was a honk outside. "Sounds like the cab is here. I shouldn't keep it waiting."

"Are you sure you have to go?" Jane asked, wincing slightly at the neediness in her voice.

Maura squeezed Jane's hand. "Yes. Friday night, if you're free, I'd like to take you out."

"Yeah, sure, of course."

"That's great. Just a little time, Jane. That's all I need."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The rest of the week was a whirlwind of activity for Jane. The properties on the list put together by Frost were checked out until one was found with a lot suspicious activity. It was an old warehouse near the Harpoon Brewery and fish factories across the Fort Point Channel that looked abandoned based on the state of the exterior of the building. But SUVs with tinted windows went in and out of the garage bays at all hours of the day.

A warrant was issued and a tactical squad assembled, including Jane and Frost, to raid the building on Thursday evening. They took the building without firing a shot. A couple of mid-level members of the Italian mafia were standing guard, if you could call it that, inside the garage bays, and several of the squad members simply drove up to the garage doors in a BPD SUV and handcuffed the guards after they drove inside the building.

Inside the rest of the warehouse, Jane, Frost, and the others found about two dozen young women housed in makeshift rooms created out of a larger room that was locked from the outside. Most spoke little to no English so they were escorted to police headquarters, put into interview rooms, and given something to eat until an interpreter could be found and someone figured out what to do with them.

They couldn't get any interpreters in until Friday morning, so all Friday was spent interviewing the girls. They all told similar stories. Most came from Poland, with a few other Eastern European countries represented. They thought they were coming to the U.S. to work as nannies or other similar jobs. Instead they were locked in the warehouse and poked and prodded regularly by someone who claimed to be a doctor. Some days, without warning, one or more of them would be taken out in the SUVs to clients who paid to be able to rape them in any fashion they chose.

Someone brought up bringing a doctor in to give the girls exams. Jane almost suggested Maura, but held her tongue. It was one thing to date Paddy Doyle's daughter, it was another to bring her into police headquarters to work on a case. Jane wasn't really sure how her superiors would take it if they found out she was spending time with the daughter of Boston's most notorious criminal, but she assumed it would be very poorly.

It was late Friday when the interviews wrapped up. They had only arrested the two guards at the warehouse so far, but with information from the women and hopefully from the two arrested men, they hoped to be able to arrest more people soon. After the interviews, social services and immigration officials took over care for the women. The next steps for them was above Jane's pay grade and she was released from duty for the weekend, or until the two arrested men starting talking.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Even though it was late on Friday, Maura said she would still wait for Jane at the club she had earlier asked that they meet at. Maura sat at the bar, sipping a glass of wine and chatting with the woman sitting next to her, when she felt someone move behind her and put a hand on her shoulder. Maura turned around and greeted Jane with a big smile. "Hi. I'm glad you could make it."

"Me too." Jane got the attention of the bartender and ordered a beer. "I didn't mean to interrupt," Jane said, nodding towards the woman on Maura's other side.

"Oh no. We were just chatting about plagues."

"Really?"

"She's an epidemiologist. Tracking patterns of how infectious diseases spread is really interesting."

"Oh yeah, sounds fascinating. Is this the nerdy scientist bar? Is that why you chose it?"

"No," Maura answered lightly. She was getting better at recognizing Jane's sarcastic comments. "I chose it because I like the DJ."

"Ah. Sorry I was so late. This week was crazy."

"I know. I saw a story about the raid on the news and I saw your name in the Boston Globe story. Is case is wrapped up?"

"A lot of it is. There are still some loose ends and the murders are still open. Hopefully we'll be able to make more progress on them now. But I don't want to talk about that anymore tonight. You look gorgeous. I'm sorry I'm still in my work clothes."

"You look good. Although...may I?" Maura asked, her hands already pulling at Jane's shirt.

"Uh, okay."

Maura pulled the hem of Jane's dark blue button down out of her pants and then unbuttoned the shirt, revealing the white tank top underneath. Maura's fingers lingered briefly against Jane's abs and she felt them clench under her touch. Then Maura took each of Jane's arms in turn and unbuttoned the cuffs and rolled each sleeve up to the elbow. "There, now you look like you're ready to have fun." Maura looked up to find Jane staring at her intently. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing's wrong. But you just partially undressed me in the middle of a bar. I hope you understand the signals you're sending me."

"I do. I told you I needed a little more time and I got what I needed." Maura took hold of Jane's hand. "Dance with me." It wasn't a question.

"Are you sure you want to subject yourself to that?"

"Yes, because dancing is one of my favorite things to do. I don't care if you're any good. In fact, you can just stand still and let me make you look good," Maura said smirking. She stood and waited for Jane to take one last drink from her bottle of beer before she pulled her to the dance floor.

The music was louder in the middle of the dance floor and Maura pressed herself fully against Jane so she could put her mouth to Jane's ear to say, "Do you trust me?" Jane nodded and Maura took Jane's hands and placed them on her own hips. "Just let your body feel the music and feel me. Move with me."

Jane kept her eyes locked on Maura. It would have been impossible to look anywhere else with the way Maura had started to rhythmically move her hips and upper body in front of her. At least that was Maura's intention. She had chosen to wear a red dress that hung loosely around her hips before falling to her mid thigh, and she felt Jane's hands bunching the fabric at her hips.

They continued like this through several songs and through each one Maura felt Jane loosen up more and move her body more in rhythm with Maura's movements. Maura grabbed one of Jane's hands, raised it and twirled herself around under it, bringing Jane's arm down to wrap around her mid-section and pressing her back against Jane's front.

Maura continued to sway her hips, now grinding her ass against Jane, and felt Jane moving against her as well. She reached her free hand behind her and around the back of Jane's neck and felt Jane's breath against her neck and chest. She knew Jane had a perfect view of breasts from that angle. Maura turned her head back towards Jane and said, "There's nothing wrong with your dancing."

She raised Jane's hand again and spun back around so they were once again facing each other. Without warning, Maura bent backwards at the waist, and although she didn't need the support, Jane's hands grabbed her waist and held on tight as Maura rolled her upper body back up. She met Jane's eyes and said, "Are you ready to go?"


	8. Chapter 8

Outside the club, Maura hailed a cab and gave the driver her address. Jane followed her into the back seat and they rode quietly to her house. Maura paid the driver and led Jane inside, where Maura began fixing drinks in the kitchen.

Eventually Maura realized that Jane had been staring at her intently and asked, "Why are you looking at me like that?"

"Are you drunk? I mean how much did you have to drink before I arrived at the club?"

"Just one glass of wine. Why? Is something wrong?"

"I'm trying to decide whether I should be concerned and try to talk about your change in manner tonight, or just not worry about it and go to town on you. I'm just feeling kinda blindsided by your whole thing tonight with the sexy dancing and stuff, when a few days ago you were talking about taking our time."

"Come sit with me," Maura said. She offered Jane a drink which was declined and they moved into the living room where they both sat down on the couch. "Last weekend, I had sex, well sort of, with Ian."

"Yeah I already figured that out," Jane responded with obvious irritation.

"Please just hear me out."

"Yeah, okay, go ahead."

"He showed up expecting us to have sex, because that's what we did best. I declined at first, because all I could think about was that I really wanted to be with you. When you weren't available and he persisted, I relented. We got going and I told him it was going to be the last time and he stopped. In the end I was relieved and I'm not happy with my actions that night. On Monday I didn't want to jump into bed with you just because I was feeling needy and vulnerable. I needed a little space from Ian's visit."

"That's...you know, I get it. That's fine. But what about the other stuff you were saying about your fears of relationships and intimacy? I mean, if we have sex are you gonna kick me out after? Are you going to stop calling? Because I'm interested in more than that with you."

"Jane..." Maura tried to interject.

Jane jumped up off the couch and started pacing. "Fuck! This is why I don't do relationships. We haven't even slept together and I already know I'm going to get hurt by you."

"Jane, the last thing I want to do is hurt you. That's what I'm trying to explain. I have nobody. I have essentially been alone for my entire adult life, with the exception of two ultimately unfulfilling relationships. I think you might be... different. I feel a connection to you that I've never experienced with anyone else."

"Yeah, I feel it too. That's what worries me."

Maura stood and took hold of Jane's hands. "That makes two of us then."

"I just keep getting the feeling that this is a really bad idea, that this can only end in disaster. Normally I would go with my gut feeling but I'm ignoring it right now because I'm so incredibly attracted to you."

"Since your gut doesn't have a brain or actual emotions, I would say there's a pretty good chance your gut is wrong," Maura said completely seriously and sincerely.

Jane tugged on Maura's hands that were still holding onto her and pulled Maura closer and Maura let go. Jane moved a hand to Maura's waist and hand to her face and right before pressing her lips to Maura's, she said, "Smartass."

Maura laughed into the kiss, but when she pulled back she looked at Jane with a serious expression and said, "Come to bed?"

"Lead the way," Jane agreed and followed Maura upstairs.

Once in the bedroom, Maura finished the job she started at the club of removing Jane's button down shirt. Then she turned her back to Jane so Jane could unzip her dress. Jane took her time, pulling the zipper down slowly, pressing her lips against Maura's neck as she did it.

Maura turned back around and worked on removing Jane's pants. After they were unzipped, Jane pushed her hands away and took over, saying, "Let me. Take your dress off." Jane took off her pants and then pulled back the covers on the bed and sat down.

Maura stepped out of her dress and stood in front of Jane. Jane brought her hands around Maura's back and pulled her in. "You're so sexy," Jane said before pressing wet kisses across Maura's abdomen. Maura reached down and pulled off Jane's tank top, breaking up the string of kisses only for a second. Jane's hands moved up to unclasp and pull off Maura's bra, and then down over Maura's ass to the back of her thighs, pulling until Maura moved both knees onto the bed on either side of Jane and sat down on Jane's lap.

Maura rubbed her hands over Jane's shoulders and down her arms, stroking back and forth over Jane's biceps. "You have such impressive musculature."

Jane's hands roamed across Maura's body until she reached Maura's breasts and said, "You have amazing tits," eliciting a laugh from Maura. "You have an amazing laugh too," Jane said before taking each of Maura's nipples in her mouth in turn. In one quick move, Jane flipped them so Maura was on her back on the bed. Jane stood and removed her remaining clothing, and then leaned over Maura, hooking her fingers under the waistband. "Is this...is this okay?"

"Yes."

Jane pulled off Maura's panties, tossed them away, and moved on top of Maura, straddling one leg. Jane bent down to kiss Maura. It was slow and sensual and Maura rolled her hips against Jane as they kissed. Jane brushed her thumb across Maura's lips and said, "I'm really happy we're doing this."

"Me too."

"I think you're so fucking sexy. What do you want me to do?"

"Just touch me. Please."

Jane returned to kissing Maura as her hand moved between Maura's legs and stroked through wetness.

Maura arched into Jane's touch. She pressed her palm flat against Jane's hip until Jane shifted enough for her to slip her own hand between Jane's legs. Jane hissed as Maura's fingers made contact. Their bodies moved together as one until they both found release.

Her body slick with sweat, Jane collapsed on top of Maura. She rolled onto her side, pulling Maura with her so they were still facing each other. When she caught her breath, Jane said, "So..." but realized she wasn't sure what to say.

Maura pushed stray curls out of Jane's face. "I would really like it if you stayed."

"Yeah," Jane nodded, "I'd like that too."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

In the morning, Jane woke up alone in Maura's bed, but she could smell coffee and hear movement downstairs. She went into the bathroom and took a quick shower before putting on her clothes from the previous night and going downstairs. She found Maura in the kitchen and accepted a mug of coffee from her after giving her a soft kiss on the lips.

"After this cup of coffee I should really get going. I want to go check in at work and I've got a stack of paperwork to get through. But what's your schedule this weekend?"

"I have to go to a charity dinner tonight. I would have invited you but I RSVP'ed months ago. And I really have to go, I need to keep building relationships for the clinic and this is the best kind of event to meet people who can help."

"That's fine. I don't think we've been seeing each other long enough for you to be able to drag me along to some fancy dinner," Jane joked.

"But we met, officially anyway, at a fancy dinner," Maura pointed out.

"Which I was ordered to go to by my boss."

"You looked beautiful that night." Jane just rolled her eyes in response. "What are you doing tomorrow evening?" Maura asked.

"Sunday dinner with my mother. It's kind of a weekly tradition. Either Frankie or I, if not both of us, try to go, especially since my Pop ran out on her. Frankie is working tomorrow so I really gotta go."

"I understand. It's important that you be there for her."

Jane took a sip of coffee before saying, "Do you wanna come?"

Maura looked up surprised. "Really?"

"She'll be thrilled to meet you."

"You've told her about me?"

Jane shrugged. "Only a little. So she'll probably ask you all sorts of embarrassing personal questions. If you're not up for that, it's fine, I understand."

"No, no. That would be really nice. As long as you're sure."

"Yeah, of course. I'll pick you up around 5. Does that work?"

"Yes, that's fine."

Jane finished the coffee and gave Maura another quick kiss. "Great. See you tomorrow."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Maura, it's so nice to meet you," Angela said as she wrapped a surprised Maura in a hug, not two seconds after Jane and Maura entered Angela's house.

"You too, Mrs. Rizzoli," Maura replied as she stood stiffly in Angela's arms.

Angela pulled back but still didn't release Maura from her grasp. "Please, call me Angela."

Jane watched in amusement but said, "Come on, Ma. Stop smothering her. We just got here."

"Oh Janie," Angela said, swatting at Jane's arm. "It's not every day you bring someone over for dinner. Let me fuss a little. Everything is ready but the garlic bread. Why don't you go check on it and I'll bring Maura to the dining room."

"I brought a bottle of wine," Maura said, holding out the bottle when Angela turned her attention back to her.

"How thoughtful. Come with me and we'll open it up."

With glasses of wine poured, Angela and Maura sat down at the table, Angela at the head and Maura to her right. "Jane didn't tell me you were so beautiful," Angela said.

"Oh, thank you," Maura replied, blushing slightly. "What exactly has Jane told you about me?"

"That you are a doctor and I think that's it."

"Oh," Maura said, somewhat confused. "I had the impression that you and Jane were close."

Before Angela could respond, Jane came bursting into the dining room with the bread and took the seat on Angela's left. "Okay, let's eat."

"Jane, do you want to say grace?" Angela suggested.

"No, Ma, you know that I don't want to say grace."

"We have a guest."

"Maura isn't even religious. Or wait, are you?" Jane asked, looking curiously at Maura.

"No, I'm not. Although both of my parents were raised Catholic, I wasn't raised in any religious tradition. And I never pursued one on my own."

"See, let's just eat," Jane said to Angela while already piling food onto her plate.

"There's nothing wrong with traditions," Angela said.

Jane looked across the table at Maura, who just gave a small shrug in return. Jane sighed and reached out one hand to Angela and one across the table to Maura. When all of their hands were linked, Jane said, "Thank you, Ma, for making this wonderful meal, and for bringing us together as a family whenever you can."

Maura nodded in agreement and Angela said, "Thank you," and they all began eating.

After a few bites Maura said, "Mmmm, this is delicious. I haven't tasted food this good in a long time."

Angela smiled warmly. "Thank you. I could always cook. My mother started teaching me when I was just a little girl. Jane never wanted to learn though."

"That's not entirely true. I tried but I was never any good at it," Jane jumped in.

"You're too impatient. You would check to see if things were done every thirty seconds and they would never get to actually cook."

"I can see that," Maura said, smiling. Jane just rolled her eyes at the both of them.

Angela turned to Maura and said, "Where did you grow up, Maura?"

Maura glanced warily at Jane for a split second before responding. "I grew up in Boston. I left for a while for medical school and my medical training. I just moved back recently."

"Oh, do your parents still live here?"

"No," Maura said and then cleared her throat before continuing. "My mother died when I was an infant and my father…moved away. He and I haven't been in contact in a long time."

Angela reached over to pat Maura's hand. "Oh, you poor thing. I guess you and Jane have that in common with your fathers."

"Ma," Jane said warningly. "Just drop it, okay."

"I'm sorry, I didn't know not to bring that up. Tell me all about your job then," Angela said, turning her attention back to Maura.

The rest of the meal passed smoothly, with Maura talking about her job and her time in Ethiopia. When it was time to leave, Angela sent Jane to the kitchen to wrap up food as she pulled Maura to the door and out of Jane's earshot.

"The food was wonderful. Thank you for having me," Maura said.

"No, thank you," Angela replied. "I don't remember the last time Jane even told me she was dating someone, let alone brought them over for dinner. You must be very special to her and I can tell she's happy. You are always welcome here, okay?"

Maura willed herself not to tear up and she nodded and Angela wrapped her in another crushing hug.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Early Monday evening, Maura was working in her office after the clinic was closed. She saw movement in her office doorway out of the corner of her eye and turned to looked as a voice said, "Hello, Maura."

Maura gasped and stood up, saying, "What on earth are you doing here?"

Patrick Doyle didn't move from the doorway. "I've had business to attend to."

"Business?" Maura said, shook turning to anger. "I'm not a child anymore. That lie isn't going to work."

"No, you're not. That's why I wanted to see you."

"All this time, you couldn't call, you couldn't write? And now you just show up. You can't be here. If anyone found you here, my career would be over. Everything I've worked to build here the past few months would be gone," Maura said angrily.

Doyle ignored this outburst and said, "You've been spending a lot of time with that cop."

"That's what you have to say? Wait, how did you know that? Have you been watching me?"

"I understand why you would be angry with me, but you're still my daughter and I love you. I've always had people making sure you were okay."

"You could have been doing that yourself if you hadn't run away. If you hadn't left me."

"From prison you mean? Is that what you would have preferred?" Doyle asked.

"I'd least I'd have been able to see you and talk to you. Now we're practically strangers. Is that what you prefer?" Maura shot back.

Doyle kept his calm, which infuriated Maura even more. He again ignored Maura's question and said, "I understand that your friend, Detective Rizzoli, is investigating me."

"I don't know what you're talking about. How exactly did you come by that information?"

"I've always had contacts in the police department. Remember what I used to tell you about cops?" Doyle asked.

"You told me that there were two kinds of cops, ones that were incompetent and ones that were corrupt," Maura answered.

"I forgot to mention a third. The kind that will do anything to get ahead, to get a promotion. Who will sell out or use friends and family, and puts her career about all else."

Maura shook her head. "You don't know what you're talking about."

"It's time to grow up Maura. She's using you. You don't really think that a cop is going to date the daughter of Paddy Doyle do you?"

"You have to leave," Maura said, her anger now laced with hurt and doubt and tears forming in her eyes.

Doyle softened his stance and voice. "Maura, please trust me. I've always tried to do what's best for you, even if it doesn't seem that way. You were too young to understand a lot of what happened before I had to leave."

The tears were falling freely now. Maura turned away. "Please just go." When she turned back to the doorway, her father was gone. Maura sank into her chair and cried.


	9. Chapter 9

Jane stumbled and almost fell but caught herself with one hand on the pavement. "Damnit," she said, as she watched the basketball roll to the fence.

"That was terrible," Frankie said, laughing as he went to retrieve the ball. "This is embarrassing. Damn, is this what love does to you?"

"Love?" Jane scoffed. "What the hell are you talking about?"

"You brought a girl to meet Ma. She called me later to tell me all about it and ask me why I wasn't bringing home such nice and pretty girls." Frank sank a jump shot over Jane's head.

Jane dribbled the ball out to the point and checked it to Frankie. "Yeah, well, bringing her to dinner with Ma doesn't mean anything." Jane dribbled half-heartedly and took a shot, missing badly. "And the 'girl' hasn't called me since, so maybe bringing her to meet Ma wasn't the greatest idea."

"It's only been a few days. Did you call her?" Frankie asked as he retrieved the missed shot.

"I sent her text Monday. She responded that work was really busy this week and she'd let me know when she was free. I haven't heard anything since."

Frankie scored again and tossed Jane the ball. "I wouldn't worry about it. But that explains why you called me on a Wednesday to play basketball. Do you have some excess energy and tension you need to work off?"

Jane clanked another shot off the backboard. "Ugh. Gross. You aren't supposed to say stuff like that to me."

"I know, it's disgusting," Frankie said as he drove by Jane for another easy layup. "But it's the only thing you hate talking about so it's one of the few ways to get under your skin."

Jane bounced the ball hard in frustration. "This sucks. Let's go get a beer."

"You only think it sucks because I'm beating you but that's fine, let's go," Frankie agreed.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Jane didn't hear from Maura all week. She tried not to worry too much about it, after all the previous week she had been too busy at work to do anything. Jane tried to focus on work. All of the pieces of the case were coming together. It was the largest case her and Frost had been involved in and it felt good. The brass was happy, there was good press. They were going to close the murders of the three young women.

During the interviews conducted with the young women found in the warehouse, the detectives showed them pictures of the three unidentified murdered girls and were able to confirm that those girls were also victims of the trafficking/prostitution ring. The consensus was that the women were killed when they refused to be prostituted.

The two guards arrested at the warehouse flipped easily once they knew the women were talking. Over the weekend more members of the crew running the prostitution ring were brought in. They all happily said that Nicholas Massino was the one and only guy responsible for any killing that went on, and no, they had no idea why anyone would have wanted to kill him.

As far as Jane could tell that seemed like an accurate assessment. Nicholas Massino was little more than a low-level thug. He wasn't on anyone's radar until he was killed. The most likely candidate to be his killer would have been someone seeking revenge for the murdered women, but they had no one here who cared about them at all.

Jane was still working with Korsak on the Massino murder. Korsak had hinted that Jane was being considered for a promotion to Homicide so she tried to focus as much attention as possible on Massino. The thing they couldn't figure out was the ice pick. It made little sense for someone to use an ice pick to try to implicate or frame Paddy Doyle over a decade after his disappearance. But it also didn't make any sense for Doyle to return to Boston and announce his return by killing someone as inconsequential as Massino. A copycat was a possibility, but using an ice pick wasn't the easiest way to kill someone.

So even though it didn't seem reasonable, at the moment Doyle was their best suspect. Jane read and re-read Doyle's file and the files of everyone associated with the prostitution ring, looking for any possible connection, any possible reason Doyle would want to kill Massino. Korsak made the rounds to talk to his confidential informants from South Boston, bringing Jane along to introduce her. But mostly Jane and Korsak waited for something else to happen or new information to surface.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Maura spent the week half wishing that her father hadn't come to visit her and half wishing that he would come back. She threw herself into work to try to keep her mind off of him. She found herself frequently losing focus, but her thoughts weren't on her father as much as they were on Jane.

Their first two meetings and then running into each in the Arboretum seemed like chance meetings. But what if they weren't. Could Jane have been following her, setting her up in order to get close to her?

Maura knew she wasn't always adept at social situations. She was too literal, she was too honest, and she often said the wrong thing at the wrong time. But Maura could also read people. She could read body language and facial expressions. The way Jane looked at her, touched her, Maura was sure it was all real, unless Jane was an exceptional actress.

Maura thought about when Jane came to clinic to confront her about being Patrick Doyle's daughter. That conversation didn't make sense if Jane was trying to trick her. Jane had asked Maura that day if she wanted to know what crimes Patrick Doyle had committed. At that time Maura didn't think she did. Now though? Maybe her father was right. Maybe it was time her to grow up.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Saturday morning found Maura knocking on Jane's door.

A groggy Jane opened the door. "Hey," Jane said with obvious confusion upon seeing it was Maura who was knocking.

"I want you to tell me everything you know about my father," Maura immediately said.

"What? What are you talking about?" Jane asked as she ushered Maura into the apartment.

"I want to know everything about what he's done or been accused of doing."

Jane sighed, shaking her head. "I don't think that's a good idea."

Maura took a seat on Jane's couch. Pursing her lips she made a final decision about whether to confide in Jane. "He came to see me."

"What? When? Where?" Jane asked, sinking onto the couch next to Maura.

"Monday night at the clinic. He was just there and we talked briefly and then he was gone."

"Fuck, Maura. What am I supposed to do with this information?"

"Please don't tell anyone," Maura said, although she realized the futility and stupidity of those words as she was saying them. If she wanted to protect her father she wouldn't have told Jane she saw him.

"Like hell I'm not going to tell anyone," Jane said, jumping back up off of the couch. "I'm a police officer, Maura. He's on the FBI most wanted list and he's a suspect in an active murder investigation. I can't just ignore that he's making visits to you now."

"Active murder investigation?" Maura repeated.

"Shit," Jane said.

Maura then gasped, covering her mouth with her hand as the realization hit her. "The ice pick." After another moment, Maura said slowly, "In high school, I overheard some other students talking about my father when they didn't know I was nearby. Or maybe they didn't know he was my father. And I heard them say something about an ice pick and I didn't understand. I didn't remember hearing that conversation when you first mentioned the ice pick. Is that..." Maura trailed off, unable to finish the question.

"It's his...calling card," Jane said, answering the unasked question.

Maura shook her head as she felt her eyes well up with tears, internally cursing her inability to control her body's reaction. "When you talked about the murder investigation and told me about the ice pick, was that some sort of test? Did you want to see if I was telling the truth about what I knew or didn't know about him? Or maybe you wanted to catch me off guard, see if I was more involved than that?"

"I honestly don't know why I said anything about it. You asked me about the case. I had no plan to talk about it or mention the ice pick, and I regretted it as soon as the words were out of my mouth. You told me you didn't know anything about your father's crimes and I believe you. I don't think you're involved in anything illegal, let alone a murder. Jesus, Maura, I...I really, really like you. But this is a big deal."

"What are you going to do now?" Maura asked.

Jane paced back and forth in front of the couch. "I have to do my job. I can leave you out of it, but I have to let people know that he's been seen in Boston."

Maura was slumped resignedly on the couch. "He told me you would pick your job over me."

"I'm not picking anything over you. Wait," Jane said, stopping her pacing. "He knows about me?"

"He's been having me followed," Maura replied.

"And you didn't notice? I thought you were an expert on that," Jane said accusingly.

"Maybe recently I've been distracted."

Jane grabbed Maura's arm and pulled her up off of the couch and started toward the door. "You have to go."

"What do mean?" Maura protested.

"Maura, he's got people who will do his bidding on the streets and in the police department. And he's got lots of enemies. If we aren't careful we're both gonna end up either dead or in jail."

Maura wrenched her arm out of Jane's grasp. "So you're just going to throw me out? I thought," Maura yelled before pausing and saying more calmly, "I thought you liked me. I thought I meant something to you. I thought you felt what I felt."

Jane ran her hands over her face before saying, "My partner told me not to get involved with you. He said you were going to be too much trouble."

"Do you wish you had listened to him?"

"No," Jane answered honestly.

"My father told me you were using me to get to him. I decided not to listen to him. I don't trust him," Maura said. "I trust you, Jane."

"You have to understand that I am not going to protect him. He's a criminal and probably a murderer. My feelings for you have to be separate from my job and from him."

Maura nodded and asked. "Will you show me his file now?"

"Are you really sure you want to do that? Once you know this stuff, you can't un-know it. You'll never be able to see him in the same way again."

"I think it's too late for that. I feel like everyone knows all of these things about him but me. I've been intentionally ignorant and I was able to ignore the things I had heard for a long time, especially when I was living away from Boston. I don't want to hide from it anymore."

"Okay," Jane agreed warily. "Take a seat. I'll show you what I've got and then we're going to have to talk about what's going to happen next."


	10. Chapter 10

Jane handed Maura a folder and sat down next to her on the couch.

"Is this everything?" Maura asked.

"No. I've got a folder full of police reports and crime scene photos. Patrick Doyle went into hiding just before the FBI was going to indict him. It's always been assumed that someone in the FBI tipped him off that he was about to be arrested, but that's never been proven. What you have in your hands is a summary of the FBI indictment. It lays out what the feds were prepared to charge him with. There's also a page from the Boston Police Department with a summary of crimes under their jurisdiction that he was suspected of committing."

The summary was only a few pages long and Maura read through it quickly. "The FBI indictment is just racketeering and money laundering."

"That's what the feds usually get mob guys for. They can build a case using ten years of evidence and piece together enough evidence for a racketeering charge," Jane explained. "It can be easier to get a conviction on that than a murder charge."

"What would that have meant for a prison term?" Maura asked.

"Those charges could have added up to life in prison, but he maybe could have plead out for a lot less time, and then with parole, served maybe 10 to 20."

Maura shook her head in disbelief. Her father had been on the run for more than a decade, but if Jane was right, he could have already served his prison term. "Why would he run from that?"

"First of all, I could be wrong. If he had contacts in the FBI, maybe they told him that the feds weren't going to go easy on him. But usually the feds, and frankly most district attorneys, will take a guaranteed shorter prison term rather than go to trial and risk losing. He may have gone into hiding because he was afraid that there would be other more serious charges like murder added after he was arrested."

Maura thought about this for a moment before asking, "Why was never arrested by Boston police?"

"I don't know for sure. I'm just guessing based on what's in the case files," Jane said. Slowly and patiently she continued, "To charge someone with murder you've got to have incontrovertible evidence, reliable witnesses, or a confession. Professionals don't leave evidence and they don't confess. And anyone who took the stand against Patrick Doyle would have been risking his or her own life. The FBI went ahead and arrested some of Doyle's top lieutenants even though Doyle couldn't be found. I guess he didn't warn everyone. Some of them may have talked and he may have been concerned about people trying to reduce their own sentences by telling the FBI about other crimes he committed. Or he could have been concerned about other people talking once he wasn't in a position to retaliate anymore."

Maura read through the pages Jane had given her again. When she got to the summary of crimes from the Boston Police Department she said, "This page says he's a suspect in sixteen murders. Do you think he killed all of those people?"

"Your father started his career as an enforcer," Jane said slowly, almost willing Maura to stop her. "His job was to kill or hurt people, usually rival gang members but sometimes people within his own organization that got out of line. The sixteen men who were killed were all involved in organized crime in some way. If you're in the mob, murder is an occupational hazard. I'm not saying it's okay, I'm just saying these guys weren't citizen of the year candidates. Was Doyle involved to all sixteen murders? I don't know. But many of them? Probably. The common thread in all of them is an ice pick, which became associated with him early on in his career. Did he personally murder those men or just order the murders? I don't know, and to me, it doesn't make a difference."

Maura shook her head. She was staring across the room, at nothing in particular. After a moment Jane put her hand on Maura's knee, prompting Maura to say, "I feel like the person we're talking about is a stranger."

"He kind of is. You only saw one part of him. All of this doesn't make the loving father that you remember any less real."

"You don't have to defend him," Maura said sadly.

"That's not my intention. Look, Maura, I do have to tell someone that he's here. I can figure out how to leave you out of it, but I still have to do my job."

"I want to see the rest of his file," Maura said.

Jane had expected Maura to fight her on reporting Doyle's appearance and she hesitated before saying, "Seeing his whole file is only going to make you feel worse."

"Jane, you need to tell someone. I need to see the file. I understand your position and I need you to understand mine."

Jane got up and went to the bedroom. She came back with a thick file folder that she set on the coffee table in front of Maura. "I need to go out for a little while. Will you stay here while I'm gone? I still don't know what we're dealing with and I'd like you to stay someplace safe."

"Where are you going?" Maura asked.

"I shouldn't tell you. This is already," Jane said, gesturing to the file in front of Maura, "probably breaking a hundred rules. And the less I tell you the better it is for you. I'll be back as soon as I can be."

Maura held Jane's gaze for a moment before nodding.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

After Jane left, Maura sat looking at the unopened file folder. She twisted the ring that she wore on the ring finger of her right hand. Her mother's wedding band. Her father, with tears in his eyes, had given it to her on her eighteenth birthday. The last birthday he had been with her for.

In the years since she had always worn the ring. In her more melancholy moments she would wonder how her parents had met and fallen in love. She had never thought to ask him that before he disappeared. She wondered how much her mother knew about her father's "business." Was he keeping all of this secret from her too? And if she knew about that part of his life, how could she love him?

Maura took a deep breath and opened the folder. She flipped through pictures and crime scene reports, reading a line here and there. When she reached the end she turned back to the beginning and skimmed through it again. It was quickly apparent that she really didn't want to see all of this. What she wanted was for people to stop hiding it from her, sheltering her. She wasn't a little girl who needed to be sheltered from reality anymore.

She flipped through the pages one more time. Lingering longer this time on the crime scene photos of men with ice picks lodged in their chest. She flipped to the pages labeled "Known Associates of Patrick Doyle." Saw the name and pictures of men she recognized from when she was a little girl. Men who came into their house to talk to her father but always had a kind word and sometimes a toy or trinket for her.

She slammed the folder closed as a wave of nausea hit her. For years she had chosen to think the best of him. She had known better, probably from the time she was in high school she had known better. But she had chosen to think of him as he was with her rather than his public persona. She had even let herself think that he had disappeared in order to protect her somehow. But now it seemed that he had chosen his freedom over a relationship with her. He had abandoned her to save himself and she had no sympathy left for him.

All week Maura had battled with herself, trying to reconcile the memories she had of her father with the man who stood in her office Monday evening. Maura stood up suddenly and, not bothering to pick up the pages of the file that spilled on the floor, went into Jane's bedroom and lay down on the bed. She expected tears to come but they didn't. She was done crying over Patrick Doyle.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

When Jane left she took a circuitous route, watching to make sure she wasn't being followed, to Frost's apartment where she pounded on his door until he opened it.

"Jesus Christ, Jane. What's the matter?" Frost said in surprise when he opened the door.

"I need your help. Can I come in?" Jane asked, glancing nervously behind her to make sure no one was watching before pushing past Frost into his apartment.

"Yeah, what's going on?"

"I need to put in an anonymous tip that Paddy Doyle is in Boston. I need it to be treated as a serious and legitimate tip but I can't have it connected to me at all."

"How do you know Doyle's in Boston?" Frost asked warily.

"Because he visited his daughter and she told me," Jane admitted.

"Where did he visit her?" Frost asked coolly.

"He went to her clinic a few nights ago."

"How do you know you can trust her?"

"Because I know her."

Frost considered the information for a moment before asking, "Why can't you just report it? You don't have to tell anyone where the information came from."

Jane wouldn't meet Frost's eyes as she said, "Because he was having her followed and he knows we've been seeing each other. If I report it, he'll know she betrayed him and I don't want to do that to her."

"Fuck Jane," Frost said angrily. "You've got info about a suspect in a current murder case and you're not disclosing it. You're talking about putting your career at risk and now my career at risk just so you can get a hot piece of ass."

Jane turned on him and nearly yelling in his face said, "Fuck you, Frost. Don't you fucking talk about her that way. She's not some piece of ass. I love her."

"You what?" Frost said, surprised and a little chastened by Jane's outburst.

Jane backed off and in a calmer voice said, "I fucking love her, okay? And fuck you, because I haven't even said that to her yet."

"Sorry," Frost offered.

"Are you going to help me now or what?"

Frost looked thoughtful for a moment before saying, "We've got two problems, disguising the source of the tip and getting it to the right person who will take it seriously."

"It's gotta get to Homicide," Jane said.

"Are you sure? What about the FBI?"

"Absolutely not. Doyle must be here because of our case. The prostitution ring and the Massino murder are related somehow and Doyle's involved. I don't want the FBI fucking it up."

Frost was silent for another few moments as he paced back and forth. "What if I receive the tip? Monday, I can say I'm going to meet a CI and come back with the info about Doyle."

"What if someone asks for details about your CI?"

"I'll refuse to give it to them."

"Are you sure? Because this much more directly involves you that what I was originally suggesting."

"But, it's easier than trying to completely hide our involvement and then trying to make sure the right people get the information. I want to get Doyle. And if you do too we have to do this right."

"Okay, if you're sure. I want to get Doyle. I want him behind bars."'

"What if arresting Doyle screws up your relationship with Maura?" Frost asked.

"I'm not going to let it."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

After going over the details of their plan with Frost, Jane returned home. The first thing she saw when she went into her apartment was the pages of Doyle's file scattered on the floor.

"Maura!" Jane called and ran into the bedroom.

Maura woke up slightly disoriented when Jane called her name and she sleepily said, "Jane?" She sat up when she saw the concerned look on Jane's face. "What is it, is everything okay?"

"Shit," Jane said, taking a deep breath. "Yeah, you weren't in the living room and there were papers scattered, and I thought something had happened to you."

Jane sat down on the bed next to Maura and Maura rubbed her hand over Jane's back. "I was just taking a nap. I'm sorry, but I came in here because I couldn't look at that file anymore. I hope you don't mind."

"No, of course I don't mind. I'm sorry for waking you up and startling you."

Maura brushed the hair out of Jane's face and then took hold of one of her hands. "Are you sure you're okay? You're shaking."

"Yeah. It's just, you know, from the adrenaline rush."

They sat like that for awhile before Maura said, "What do we do now?"

"I have no idea," Jane replied.


	11. Chapter 11

Maura took hold of Jane's hands, stilling them from their shaking. "What are you concerned about?" Maura asked softly.

Jane looked down at their entwined hands as she replied, "Doyle...your father... is back in Boston for some reason and it's unlikely that we're the only people who know he's back. He has enemies that could come after you. And actually, him showing up at your workplace may have put you in danger. There's no reason anyone would have known that you had any connection to him before he visited you. If anyone was watching him, now they may be looking at you."

"You reported that he was in Boston, right?" Maura said. "That's where you went."

Jane nodded. "It's in the works. It won't get connected to you at all."

"What about you?" Maura asked.

"Hopefully it won't be connected to me either."

Maura removed her hands and clasped them in her own lap. After a moment she said, "Is it weird that I actually kind of want him to be arrested and put in jail?"

"Why do you want that?"

"Because right now I don't really have a father. At least if he was in prison I'd be able to visit him and talk to him. I have so many questions that I never thought to ask him when I was a kid. I hardly know anything at all about my mother. He's the only person who can answer my questions and him being in prison is the only way I think I'll be able to get him to talk honestly with me."

"Does that mean you aren't going to hate me when he's arrested?" Jane asked seriously.

"I don't think I could hate you, Jane." Maura reached her hand up and brushed it across Jane's cheek and then her thumb across Jane's lips.

Jane kissed Maura's thumb and then leaned forward to kiss her lips. "I missed you this week. I was worried that I had done something wrong."

"Why?" Maura asked.

"Because last weekend we...you know, and then I took you to meet my mother. When I didn't hear from you I thought I did something wrong, or maybe we moved too fast. Or maybe my mother scared you off."

"I really liked meeting your mother," Maura said.

Jane leaned in again, this time pressing Maura backwards onto her back and partially laying down on top of her. "So I didn't do anything wrong?"

"No. My father showed up and I wasn't sure what to do. I didn't know if I should tell you or what I should tell you. I didn't know if I should get you involved. I'm sorry I made you worry."

Maura pulled Jane down and into another kiss. Jane's hand found skin under the hem of Maura's shirt and she pressed her thigh between Maura's legs. Maura broke the kiss, moaning softly and arching into Jane's touch.

Jane kissed a trail down Maura's neck and across her collarbone before looking back up into Maura's eyes and saying, "Maura, there's something I want to tell you."

Before Jane could continue, there was a loud knocking on Jane's apartment door.

"Oh, for fuck's sake," Jane said, getting up with a groan to check the door. "Stay here," she said to Maura, checking to see that her gun was still secured in the holster at the small of her back.

Jane checked the door's peephole and quickly opened the door, saying "Frankie?"

"I'm sorry, Jane," Frankie said when Jane opened the door.

Before Jane could ask why Frankie was sorry, a second man appeared from the right of the door and, pointing a gun at Jane's face, pushed Frankie inside the apartment and followed him in.

"Who..." Jane started to ask, but before she could say anything else his arm raised up and then everything went black.

The next thing Jane was aware of was the feeling of a pounding headache as she opened her eyes in a dimly lit room. She was lying on her side on a wood floor, hands handcuffed behind her back. A wave of nausea hit her as she moved her head to try to look around the room and she closed her eyes again.

She heard movement and murmuring in the room and then there was another wave of nausea as she was picked up by two people on either side of her and placed into a sitting position on a chair. A small lamp provided the only light in the room. She noted a bed and a desk before closing her eyes again.

A door opened and closed and a man's voice said, "Hello, Detective Rizzoli."

Jane opened her eyes and, willing herself not to throw up, took in the man standing in front of her. "Doyle," she said.

"It's a pleasure to finally meet you," Doyle said, with no sign of actual pleasure in his voice.

Jane finally processed how she had ended up in this situation and said, "Frankie?"

"He's at your apartment, probably feeling the same headache you are," Doyle answered. "He just happened to be at the wrong place at the wrong time, right when we were coming to pay you a visit."

"Maura," Jane said.

Doyle was silent for a moment before responding. "My daughter is fine. I warned her about you and she chose not to listen to me. But that isn't why you are here. I warned her to stay away from you because I don't want her anywhere near my business and right now you are part of my business."

Although Jane felt the grogginess from being knocked out had cleared somewhat, there was a sharp pain on the right side of her head where she had undoubtedly been struck and that was still making it difficult to fully comprehend what Doyle was saying to her. "Your business?" Jane managed to say.

"Don't play dumb, Detective. I know you've seen my file. And I'm sure you've heard plenty of stories, some of which are probably true. Even though I've been away from Boston, doesn't mean I haven't maintained control of my business interests."

"Why are you telling me this?"

Doyle spoke softly, evenly. "I've been watching you for quite some time, Jane. Long before you met my daughter. You're young, smart, ambitious, and making a fast rise through the ranks. One brother who is a cop and another in prison. You would be perfect for my organization. When you started working the prostitution cases, our interests intersected perfectly. In fact, I believe I helped you. Before you found Massino, you had no leads and now those girls are safe and the case is completely wrapped up."

"Except for Massino's murder."

Doyle didn't respond.

"I don't understand what you want from me," Jane said.

"I want you to be my contact," Doyle responded.

Jane almost laughed but didn't. "Don't you have plenty of people already to do your bidding?"

"People retire. They move on. They die."

"Why me?"

"Because you're ambitious and I'm sure you've already realized that there are limits to what you can accomplish within the system. There is so much more you could achieve without the constraints you currently have. We can help each other."

Jane listened to this pitch from Doyle and when she finally understood what he was suggesting, she got angry. "Why the fuck was it necessary to knock me out and handcuff me if you just wanted to have a friendly chat with me?"

"Would you have come willingly?"

Doyle's calm demeanor just made Jane angrier. "Sure. With back-up and my gun. How would you ever trust me not to turn on you if we entered into this partnership you're suggesting?"

"Maura," Doyle said. "At first I thought your relationship with her would be a complication. But then I realized it could be to my advantage. If I go down, Maura's relationship to me will likely be revealed, along with her relationship to you. It will threaten her career and yours, and perhaps her life."

"You're willing to use your daughter like that?" Jane said, her voice dripping with disgust.

"Can you honestly tell me you weren't using her to get to me?"

"Yes, I can. Honestly, I don't give a shit about you."

"But you do care about Maura," Doyle said. It wasn't a question.

"Fuck you. You don't know a fucking thing about me." Or Maura, Jane thought but managed not to say.

"Think about my offer," Doyle said and turned to leave.

"Wait," Jane said. "Why did you kill Massino?"

Doyle's mouth briefly turned up into what Jane took to be his version of a smile before settling back into a scowl. "For the same reason you arrested his partners, and for the same reason some part of you wishes you could have killed them. They were selling girls. Whatever you think of me, there are certain things that I would never do and did not allow anyone in my organization to do. Abusing women and killing innocent people are things I don't tolerate."

"How noble of you," Jane sneered.

"You still think everything is black and white. You'll learn, Detective. I'll be in touch. Soon." Doyle left the room, closing the door after him.

Jane sat alone for a few minutes before the door opened again and Maura came inside. She burst into tears as soon as she saw Jane.

"Fuck, are you hurt?" Jane asked.

Maura shook her head. "I'm so sorry, Jane," Maura said as she bent over to look at the wound on Jane's head. "We have to get you to a hospital."

"No!" Jane yelled but she saw that Maura was shaking she said more softly, "No hospital."

"You have a big gash on your head. You lost a lot of blood. You need stitches. You should also get a CT scan. You could have a skull fracture or a concussion."

"You're a doctor, you can take care of me. Just get these handcuffs off of me and let's get the fuck out of here."

"Jane," Maura said and started crying again as she sank onto the bed. "We're in my house."

Jane looked around the room, really paying attention now that she was more alert, and slowly realized that she was the guest bedroom on the second floor of Maura's house. "Fucking asshole," Jane muttered.

"I didn't know anything about this, Jane. I'm so sorry," Maura said again.

"Hey, this isn't your fault. But I need your help right now, okay? I need you to do what I tell you to do."

Maura seemed to sober up and she nodded.

Jane stood up and closed her eyes against the fresh wave of nausea. She wavered slightly but remained upright. "Okay, you gotta unlock these handcuffs. Get my keys out of my front pocket and use the smallest key but do not touch the handcuffs." Maura followed Jane's instructions and when the cuffs clicked open Jane let them fall to the floor. "Did they hurt you at all?"

"No."

Jane reached around her back and finding nothing there said, "Did they take my gun?"

"I think they left it at your apartment."

"Aside from your father, how many people did you see?"

"Two men came to your apartment. That was it."

"Do you know them?"

"No."

"Can you describe them?"

"Yes."

"I need you to help me downstairs. I have to make a phone call and get someone over here to check for fingerprints. While they are here I want you to stay in your bedroom and write down a description of each of the men. Once that's all done, you can fix me up, okay?"

Maura nodded.

Jane called Frankie first. He was awake and feeling better than Jane was, with no significant injuries, but he was still at Jane's apartment. She gave him Maura's address so he could come help and bring over her gun. Then she called Frost and asked him to pick up supplies and come over too.

Jane didn't want to file a report, for Maura's sake but even more for her own. Jane was well aware that Paddy Doyle knew she wouldn't report being kidnapped by him. It was too risky for her own career to try to explain her relationship with Maura and how she had ended up with Paddy Doyle in Maura's house. Not to mention explaining why Doyle had kidnapped her. That didn't mean she couldn't still do detective work.

When Frankie and Frost arrived they talked through what had happened and then set about dusting for fingerprints on the front door, in the stairway, and in the room Jane was held in.

About an hour later, Frankie and Frost were gone and Jane collapsed on the couch. "Maura," Jane yelled, and heard Maura coming down the stairs before she lost consciousness again.

When Jane came to again she was lying on the couch and murmured, "Maura."

"I'm right here. How are you feeling?" Maura asked, appearing at Jane's side.

"Terrible."

"I cleaned you up. The cut on your scalp wasn't as bad as I thought it would be based on the blood loss but I had to give you stitches. It's probably better that you weren't conscious for that. Based on the loss of consciousness and nausea I'm almost positive you have a concussion. You should really go to the hospital."

"No," Jane said adamantly.

Maura sighed but didn't press Jane further. "Do you think you can make it upstairs? You need to sleep but I'd prefer having you in bed with me so I can monitor you."

"Yeah, just give me a hand and if we take it slow, I'll be fine."

Maura helped Jane get settled in bed and then went through her own bedtime routine. When she got into bed Jane appeared to be asleep but soon after Jane said, barely above a whisper, "Maura."

"I'm here," Maura answered, turning on her side toward Jane. "Do you need anything?"

Jane was silent so long that Maura thought she had fallen asleep but finally Jane whispered, "I love you."


	12. Chapter 12

Maura lay on her side watching Jane sleep.

She wasn't entirely clear on what had happened earlier that evening. She came out of Jane's bedroom to find Jane and a man, whom she later realized must be Jane's brother Frankie, collapsed on the floor with two other men with guns standing over them. When Maura stepped into the room, one of the men swung his gun towards her and said, "Your father would like to talk to you."

Maura didn't say anything but followed the men as they carried Jane down the back stairway of her apartment building to a car in the alley behind the building. She didn't say anything as the men drove her to her own house and she entered it to find her father sitting in her living room. She didn't say anything as her father said, "Hello, Maura," and the men carried Jane upstairs.

Maura paced back and forth in her living room while her father went upstairs. Her only clear thought at the time was the man had lied. Her father didn't want to talk to her, he wanted to talk to Jane. When Doyle came back downstairs, preceded by the two other men who said nothing as they left through the front door, Maura had said, "What did you do to her?"

"We talked. Detective Rizzoli can tell you about it if she wants to," Doyle had answered.

Maura wanted to scream. She wanted to slap him. But most of all she wanted him to go back to being the man, the father, she remembered. The man who was kind and made her laugh and made her feel loved and safe. Not this stoic, grim-faced stranger. "I wish you hadn't returned," Maura had then said honestly.

"I wish a lot of things had been different. I really do, Maura. I certainly wish you didn't have to be involved in what happened tonight. I never intended for you to be involved in any of this. I warned you to stay away from her but you're an adult and you can make your own choices."

Maura shook her head. "You've already made your own choice clear and you certainly didn't choose me. If it comes down to choosing between you and Jane, I'm going to choose Jane."

Doyle had just nodded sadly and left.

Maura returned her attention to Jane. She would have preferred to bring Jane to a hospital. The major risk from a blow to head like she received was a brain hemorrhage. Although Jane showed obvious symptoms of a concussion, she didn't seem to have any trouble speaking or any loss of coordination or motor skills. The loss of consciousness was troubling, but Maura found herself kind of impressed with Jane's stamina and the way she took charge after her father left, only physically crashing once her work was completed.

Maura understood why Jane didn't want to go to a hospital. She knew it was at least partially for her benefit. So she would monitor Jane throughout the night, waking her up periodically to check for signs of a hemorrhage or other problems. But if it was a concussion then Jane just needed to sleep.

Maura looked at the clock. They had been in bed for an hour. Maura would wait one more and then wake Jane up and do a quick physical exam. Maybe she'd be able to fall asleep for a few hours after that.

I love you. The words reverberated in her head.

Maura tried to remember the last time she had said those words to someone. She knew she had used them to describe her relationship with other people. She'd told Jane she had loved Ian but she had never said those words to him. Maybe she had also told Jane she loved her father but she hadn't said the words to him since she was a little girl.

The last time she had told someone she loved them was probably in college when she was dating Garrett. Her first serious relationship. It felt like love at the time, but it was probably more like the excitement of a first relationship. Loving the idea of being in love.

That was back when her father had just disappeared. Maura thought then that his disappearance would only be temporary. Some days she let herself believe that it was all a big misunderstanding and once it all got sorted out he would come back and everything would go back to normal.

A year later Maura had realized that nothing would return to normal again. She had always been shy and introverted to a certain degree but she withdrew further. The FBI interrogated her regularly and she was sure they were following her and monitoring her phone. She simply stopped talking to other people. When Garrett finally broke up with her, she didn't really care and she certainly didn't blame him.

Since then, with the exception of her time with Ian, she had been alone. Ian had been fun and exciting and everything about him was different from Boston and her past. They were a great team, working together during the day, helping and healing people, and they were a great team at night too. Under those circumstances it was easy to love him.

She had never told Ian anything about her father. She didn't want pity or to be treated delicately. Maura loved Ian but she had never said those words to him. She couldn't bring herself to risk being hurt, to risk being abandoned again by someone she cared about. When Ian did leave her, simply disappearing one night, she felt oddly validated, even though it didn't stop her from loving him.

But Maura knew that Jane was different. She didn't believe in soul mates or that there was one person she was meant to be with or anything like that, but Jane made her think about those things. Jane made her wonder whether biology or chemistry could explain love at first sight, or first smell, or perhaps first kiss. Maura couldn't explain their connection but she knew it was real and she was sure Jane felt it too. Maybe it was because she never had the opportunity to hide anything with Jane. Jane knew her biggest secret from the first time they had a real conversation.

"I love you," Maura whispered, barely audible in the silence of the room, testing the feel of the words in her mouth. "I love you, too."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It was after 10 the next morning when Maura finally got out of bed after a very disrupted night of sleep. She pulled on her robe and went downstairs to start the coffee maker. Then she went back upstairs and got in the shower. When Maura emerged from the bathroom, Jane was sitting up in bed.

"Hey," Jane said, looking Maura, who was now wearing only her robe, up and down appreciatively.

"You look like you're feeling better," Maura said.

"I've got a pretty good headache. But if you just wore that at work I think all of your patients would perk right up."

Maura gave Jane a fake glare and said, "Let me get dressed and then I want to examine you?"

"Again?" Jane whined.

"Yes, again." Maura went into her closet and emerged a few moments later in tight blue jeans and a black v-neck long sleeve shirt. She grabbed the penlight from her bedside table and then perched on the bed next to Jane. She shined the light in Jane's eyes, checking pupil dilation, and then ran a few tests to check muscle strength.

"That's good. Do you have any problems with your vision? Is anything blurry?"

"No, it's fine," Jane answered.

Maura ran a few more neurological tests that Jane passed. "Okay, time to stand up. If you have any problems with your balance or any dizziness or nausea, I need you to tell me, okay?"

"Yes, doctor," Jane said as Maura stood up and Jane slowly swung her legs over the side of the bed. Maura stood close as Jane stood up completely. Jane closed her eyes for a few seconds and then opened them again. "Just a little dizzy, but it passed. No nausea."

"Keep your hands at your sides and close your eyes," Maura instructed. Maura watched for signs of lack of balance but Jane looked fine. "Open your eyes and walk in a straight line to the wall and then back." Maura watched Jane walk and said, "You would pass a concussion assessment except for the loss of consciousness and that happened twice which still concerns me."

"But you're saying I'm fine?" Jane clarified.

"Symptoms can appear days after a head injury so I'm wary of making any final conclusions. I recommend taking it easy for a few days."

"Can I take a shower now?" Jane asked.

"If you can do it without washing your hair or getting your head wet. I don't want you to mess up your stitches."

"I can do that. I'll be quick."

"I'll be downstairs," Maura said, leaving Jane to her shower.

Fifteen minutes later, Jane came downstairs to the kitchen and Maura handed her a hot cup of coffee.

"What happens now?" Maura asked.

"I'm not sure," Jane said honestly. "They just walked right into my apartment building and kidnapped us, Maura. Like nothing could touch them."

Maura was hoping Jane would keep talking about what happened on her own, but when she didn't Maura asked, "What did he want from you?"

"He didn't tell you?"

"No."

Jane waited a long time before saying, "He wants me to work for him."

Maura was momentarily stunned. "Why on earth-"

"It doesn't matter," Jane interjected. "I'm not going to work for him. You know that right?"

"I-" Maura started but then stopped because how could she honestly answer that question?

"Well, I'm not. Frost and I have a plan to report that Doyle's back in Boston. We're gonna stick to that plan and see what happens."

"I think I'm beginning to appreciate how good you must be at your job. Why is Frost helping you so much?"

"Because he wants to put Doyle in prison, just like I do."

Maura let that sink in before saying, "What are we supposed to do in the meantime?"

"Stick together, if you're still willing to that is. I wish we could get out of town for awhile, but I really have to give the appearance that everything is normal while our plan is put in action. I think we should go back to my apartment though. It's more secure than your house, as long as I don't answer the door for any more criminals."

"I'll pack a bag," Maura said, already moving to go upstairs to pack.

"Maura," Jane said, grabbing her arm so Maura turned back to face her. "I...I'm really sorry about all of this. I can't imagine how you must feel right now. I never wanted to get involved with Doyle at all."

"Nothing that happened yesterday is your fault. And I...I choose you, Jane," Maura said resolutely. "I'm sticking with you."


	13. Chapter 13

Jane woke up early Monday morning. They had returned to her apartment Sunday afternoon and Jane had spent most of the rest of Sunday sleeping. Maura had woken her up for a small dinner but then sent her back to bed.

Jane felt Maura's body curled against her back and Maura's arm draped across her waist. Jane turned over to face Maura and lightly brushed her hand down Maura's arm.

Maura smiled and without opening her eyes said, "What time is it?"

"It's only a little past 5."

Maura snuggled into Jane's body, dropping her head to Jane's chest. "It's early."

"I think I'm awake for good this morning. Want me to get up and let you sleep more?"

"No, stay here. I'm awake." After a long silence during which Jane thought Maura fell back asleep, Maura said, "Do you think I'm pathetic?"

"Why would I think that?"

Maura pulled her head back so she could see Jane's face. "I was so naive. Intentionally so. I'm not ready to completely shut him out of my life because he's the only person left who can tell me anything about my mother. But also because I don't know how to reconcile that this person who has done such terrible things is my father and what that means for who I am. It makes me wonder what I'm capable of."

"Your father's actions don't change who you are anymore than my father walking out on my mother changes who I am. You are an amazing woman and there isn't an evil bone in your body. I'm not going to let him make you doubt yourself and I'm not going to let him come between us."

Maura brushed her fingers across Jane's forehead and cheek. "How is your head feeling?"

"Fine," Jane answered.

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah. My headache is gone."

Maura pushed Jane onto her back, moved on top of her, and kissed her, slowly swirling her tongue through Jane's mouth, before pulling back and saying, "Good, because I think we have some unfinished business."

Jane raised her eyebrows. "Oh, yeah?"

Maura didn't answer, she already sliding down Jane's body, pushing Jane's t-shirt up to kiss her stomach briefly before moving down farther and pulling Jane's shorts and underwear down with her.

"Oh, god," Jane moaned, spreading her legs wider as Maura's mouth made contact. Maura dipped her tongue inside Jane a few times before moving up to swirl her tongue around Jane's clit.

"Fuck, Maura," Jane said at the contact. Her hands went to Maura's head, her fingers threading into Maura's hair. "Fuck, right there," she moaned as Maura found a sensitive spot. Maura pushed a finger inside Jane, finding the other spot to send Jane over the edge.

Maura climbed back on top of Jane and Jane pulled her into another kiss. Jane's hand cupped Maura between her legs.

"You don't have to," Maura said quickly.

Jane pushed aside Maura's underwear and dragged her fingers through wetness. "You can't tell me that you don't want it."

"No I can't, but I don't you want to overexert yourself."

"You're going to do all the work," Jane said as two fingers entered Maura.

Maura partially sat up, pulled her t-shirt off over her head, and then put both hands on Jane's chest for leverage so she could thrust against Jane's hand.

"That's it," Jane said as Maura started softly moaning.

Maura's eyes were closed and her breasts were bobbing up and down with each thrust. "You're so beautiful," Jane said and brought her free hand to Maura's chest to palm a breast. She brushed her thumb over a nipple and then pinched it between her thumb and forefinger.

"Yeah, that's good," Maura said. Jane pinched and pulled on the nipple harder. "Oh, yes...almost," Maura moaned.

Jane pulled her fingers out and slid them to Maura's clit, stroking until Maura collapsed against her.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

After showers and breakfast, Jane drove Maura to work. "Are you sure you don't want to get a security detail for the clinic today?"

"No, I'm not going to do anything different. I refuse to be intimidated."

Jane frowned but didn't say anything.

"There's no reason to worry," Maura added.

"You don't know that. There's too much going on that we don't understand."

"Jane, I'm just going to work. I'm going to sit in my office all day and then you're going to pick me up. What could go wrong?"

Jane pulled up in front of Maura's clinic. "Promise you'll call me if anything out of the ordinary happens."

Maura leaned over to give Jane a kiss. "I promise."

"Okay," Jane reluctantly agreed to leave Maura for the day. "I'll call you later."

Jane drove to work and went straight to Frost's desk and pulled up a chair. Quietly, she asked, "Did you get any hits on those prints?"

"One," Frost answered. "Donald Sullivan. Worked for Doyle before. Did some time on assault and extortion charges. Now, are you going to tell me what actually happened on Saturday?"

"I was at my apartment with Maura. Sullivan and another guy knocked me out. Frankie came over to bring me food from Ma and I don't know if they were waiting for an opportunity like that or if they just got lucky, but when I opened the door for Frankie there was a gun in my face. They took us to Maura's house and when I woke up I was handcuffed and Doyle was there."

"What the hell did he want?"

Jane looked around to make sure no one was within earshot of their conversation. "He said he wants me to work for him. Be his inside man at BPD."

"Are you fucking serious?"

"I'm definitely not making it up. I told him to fuck off. He thinks that I'll help him in order to protect Maura. That I won't go after him because if he's arrested it will come out that Maura is his daughter and that will hurt her."

"This is seriously fucked up. You need to tell someone about this. Tell the Lieutenant or tell Detective Korsak. He seems like a reasonable guy."

Jane shook her head. "How do you think its going to go over when I say that I'm dating Paddy Doyle's daughter? I won't have any credibility at all and then I'll probably get put down in evidence management or put on harbor patrol or something, if I'm even allowed to keep my job."

Frost sighed heavily before saying, "It's going to be a hell of a lot worse if you don't say anything and people find out later. What if Doyle is arrested and he starts telling defense attorney's and prosecutors and whoever else will listen that you're dating his daughter or tells people about this meeting and you haven't told anyone about it. It could compromise the whole case against him. He could walk away. Maybe that's his real plan. You're his get out of jail free card. Did you consider that?"

"Fuck," Jane groaned. "I didn't think about it like that."

"You're letting your emotions cloud your judgement, Jane."

"No, I'm not. Let's go ahead with our plan. Make the tip and see what happens."

Frost held up his hands and said, "I sorry, Jane, but I can't. I've done as much as I can. Our original plan made sense when all we knew was that Doyle was back in Boston. It's different now. I know you're trying to protect everyone but you can't. You're not going to be able to get Doyle and still protect yourself and Maura."

Jane sat silently for a minute considering what Frost said. "I can't protect everyone," Jane said quietly. She stood and continued as she headed to the door, "You're right, I have to make a choice. Thanks Frost, you're a good partner."

"Where are you going?" Frost called after her but got no response.

Jane went upstairs to the Homicide Division and found Detective Korsak and said, "Detective Korsak, I, uh, have to talk to you about something. Can we go somewhere private?"

"Yeah, sure Rizzoli," Korsak answered and led her down the hall to an empty conference room.

Korsak sat down but Jane remained standing, nervously pacing in the small room. "You know I want to make Homicide right?" she started.

"Yes that's what I thought."

"I've wanted to be a cop since I was a little kid. It's the only thing I ever wanted to be and really the only thing I cared about outside my family. I didn't think about marriage or kids of my own, just being a cop. A good cop. The best Homicide Detective in the city, that's what I want to be."

"Why are you telling me all this?" Korsak asked.

"Because we haven't known each other very long and I want you to trust me, but after I tell you what I'm about to tell you, you might not trust me."

"Well, let's end the suspense."

"Paddy Doyle told me that he killed Nicholas Massino. This was after two of his men knocked me out and he had me handcuffed and briefly held captive in my girlfriend's house. And, "Jane continued after a brief pause, "my girlfriend is Paddy Doyle's daughter."

Korsak's jaw dropped open. "You're joking right? Did one of the other detectives put you up to this?"

Jane shook her head.

Korsak looked like he was trying to figure out which part to start with, opening and closing his mouth a few times before finally saying, "You're dating Paddy Doyle's daughter?"

"Well, more like estranged daughter, to be fair. "

"How long has this been going on?"

"A few months."

Korsak leaned back in his chair and rubbed his temples. "Why don't you start from the beginning."

Jane finally sat down and told Korsak how she met Maura and how they started dating. Then she told him everything that had happened Saturday with Doyle and everything he said to her, including Doyle proposing that Jane work for him and their discussion of Massino's murder. The only part Jane omitted was that she knew Doyle had visited Maura a week ago.

"What exactly are you trying to accomplish telling me this, Detective?"

"I want Doyle to go to prison. He's in Boston. He killed Massino. He said this whole thing about he was helping us and he didn't tolerate abusing or killing women. But he must have other plans and I want to get him before anyone else gets hurt."

"He kills Massino and leaves the body where we can find him and that allows us to track down the prostitution ring operating on the edge of South Boston. It was always assumed Doyle also ran prostitution in parts of Boston, or at least collected protection money from other operations. He wanted this prostitution operation shut down."

"Why risk his own freedom by surfacing now though? He didn't have to kill Massino himself or identify himself by using an ice pick?"

"To send a message that he's still in control to anyone who thinks they can compete with him. He comes and shores up his operation, maybe ties up some other loose ends before leaving again."

"So why does he go after me?" Jane asked.

"Scare you away from his daughter, perhaps," Korsak said, cracking a smile. "Or maybe he thought we were getting too close and he thought this would get you to back off."

"Argh," Jane groaned in frustration, thinking that maybe Frost was right about letting emotions cloud her judgement. "I was too focused on wanting to arrest him. I didn't think about all the angles he could be playing."

"I'm curious, how does your girlfriend feel about you wanting to send her father to prison?" Korsak asked.

"It doesn't matter," Jane responded immediately.

"Really? You're willing to lose her to send him to prison?"

"Look, regardless of what Maura has said to me about she feels about her father, I don't know how's she actually going to react to him being arrested. The only thing I'm concerned about is protecting her. She's built a life separate from Paddy Doyle and very few people know she's related to him. If that information becomes public knowledge it would possibly hurt her professionally, but I'm more concerned about her becoming a target for Doyle's enemies."

"What are you saying?" Korsak asked.

"If he's arrested I want to make sure that she's protected. She's changed her name, I want to keep her existence a secret."

Korsak took a moment to consider this. "How do you know that Maura is telling you the truth? What if she is working with her father to get to you?"

"Because I know her and I trust her."

"But you have to admit her timing is at the very least coincidental."

"That's all it is, a coincidence."

"Any idea how we should go about finding Doyle?" Korsak asked.

"No. But one of the guys who knocked me out was a guy he used to run with, Donald Sullivan. And Doyle said he would be back in touch with me."

"Well, maybe we should wait and see what his next move is."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Maura was in her office going over grant proposals when her office door suddenly opened and just as suddenly closed behind her father.

At this point, Maura wasn't really surprised by his appearance. "Why are you still in Boston? It's only a matter of time until you're arrested."

"In all these years I haven't been arrested yet. Do you think your Detective Rizzoli is going to get to me?"

"What do you want?" Maura asked coldly.

"I don't know how much longer I'm going to be in Boston. I wanted to see you. I can't make it up to you and I can't say it enough, but I want you to know that I regret leaving you. I told myself that you were an adult and you were going to be living your own life and that we would have been apart anyway, but I've realized that I was wrong. I'm sorry for that. I wish I could it make it up to you but I know that's impossible."

Maura was silent for a few moments before finally saying, "Tell me something about my mother."

"She was beautiful," her father said and she noticed his eyes light up as he said it.

"I know. I've seen plenty of pictures. I want to know about the person she was."

"She was very smart, brilliant, like you are. She was interested in everything, always reading a new book about something that caught her interest. And she was incredibly kind. She was always taking care of other people. I'm sorry you didn't have the opportunity to know her."

"Did she love you?" Maura asked.

"Yes, she did. I know you can't understand but I wasn't always this person. Your mother and I were very young and probably too naive. I didn't want my life to be like this, Maura, but ultimately my father didn't give me a choice. That was the one thing I knew I could do for you, protect you from what I couldn't protect your mother and myself from."

Maura looked at him intently. "There is something you can do for me."

"What is it?"

"I love Jane. I don't understand what you want with her. But you can leave Boston and leave her alone."


	14. Chapter 14

As Jane and Korsak were finishing their conversation, Lt. Cavanaugh came out of his office and approached them. "Detective Korsak, I just received a phone call saying someone called 911 and reported seeing Paddy Doyle in South Boston."

"Where?" Korsak asked.

"Entering a health clinic on West Broadway."

Korsak looked at Jane and noted her eyes were wide. "Send all the patrol cars and officers in the area, no sirens. We're going too."

"Wear your vests," Cavanaugh called after them as Korsak was already pushing Jane to the door.

"That's Maura's clinic," Jane confirmed once they were in the elevator.

"Do you think she's in danger?" Korsak asked.

"No."

"Do you think she's working with him?"

"No!" Jane said adamantly. "I already told you that."

"I'm driving," Korsak said as they exited the building.

En route to South Boston they started getting reports from units already near the clinic. Finally one said, "Foxtrot 2-15. Suspect spotted exiting rear of clinic onto Silver St walking westbound towards E St."

A second voice then said, "10-4. This is Foxtrot 2-10. We are moving northeast on E towards Silver."

"How far away are we?" Jane asked Korsak.

"Three to four minutes."

The over the radio they heard, "Foxtrot 2-10. Suspect entering brick building in 300 block of E St. We are arriving at location right now."

By the time Korsak pulled the car over on E Street at least five other police cars were at the same location and uniformed officers were positioning themselves around the building to cover all the exits.

Jane and Korsak both pulled on their vests and huddled with the other officers on the scene to decide on next steps. Finally it was agreed that they weren't going to take any chances in terms of letting Doyle slip away and commands were issued for going inside the building to apprehend him.

They separated into teams of two to go into the building through the various entrances and were assigned a section of the two story building to search. Korsak and Jane went in the front door and found themselves looking at disorganized rows of old machinery and boxes.

"What is this building?" Jane asked.

"I'm not sure. Obviously some sort of old warehouse or something, but I don't know what was here."

"What do you want to do?"

"You take that aisle and I'll go this way. We'll loop back towards each other."

"Are you sure we should split up?" Jane asked.

"I don't want to give him the chance to sneak up on both of us together. If you run into trouble, yell."

Jane nodded. "Okay, let's do it."

Korsak nodded and set off away from Jane. Jane took a deep breath, raised her gun, and moved slowly in the other direction. At least it was daytime, she thought, so natural was getting in the building and they weren't operating in the dark.

Jane and made her way through two aisles of boxes when heard Korsak shout, "Police! Hands in the air! Drop the gun, Doyle!"

Jane sprinted towards the sound of Korsak's voice, rounding a corner to see Doyle standing at an intersection and pointing a gun down an aisle. Jane presumed Korsak was standing in that direction although she couldn't see him. Jane stopped and raised her gun. ""Drop it, Doyle. You're surrounded. The whole building is surrounded. You aren't getting out of here. Shooting your way out isn't an option."

Doyle turned his head towards Jane and narrowed his eyes. "Did someone tip you off?"

The way he emphasized 'someone,' Jane knew he was asking if it was Maura. "Drop the weapon."

He lowered his arm about half way. "Answer my question, Rizzoli. How did you find me?"

"Someone saw you entering the clinic," she replied, emphasizing the word entering. "Lower your weapon."

He gave a tiny nod to Jane and she saw his eyes look around the room quickly before he turned his attention back to Korsak. Doyle snapped the hand holding the gun back up pointing towards Korsak.

Jane didn't wait to see if he was going actually shoot. She fired her gun immediately, hitting Doyle in his outstretched arm. He dropped his gun and dropped onto a knee.

Jane didn't move, but Korsak was immediately standing over Doyle. He kicked Doyle's gun towards Jane and said, "Stay down, Doyle. Jane, call for a bus."

The next ten minutes went by in a blur for Jane. The other cops on the scene converged on their location. The ambulance arrived and the EMTs attended to Doyle. Korsak cuffed Doyle's uninjured arm to the stretcher and assigned uniformed cops to accompany and escort him to Boston Medical Center.

Then Korsak was beside her, ushering her outside and saying, "You did good, Jane." Outside a crowd had gathered around the building and a number of cops were trying to maintain a perimeter. The EMTs were wheeling Doyle to the ambulance.

Jane saw Maura standing across the street. She wanted to yell to her to stay away. The last thing she wanted right now was for her to reveal her connection to Doyle. But she saw Maura's face change as she realized it was Doyle on the stretcher. Maura then looked straight at her with a questioning, almost pleading, look in her eyes. Jane just shook her head, trying to convey about a million messages at once.

Then Maura was pushing her way through the crowd until she was stopped by a police officer. Jane could hear her say as she flashed her ID, "I'm a doctor, I can help," and the police officer let her pass. She said the same thing to the EMTs and climbed into the ambulance.

"Come on, Jane," Korsak said, tugging on her arm.

"But-"

"We gotta go. Now!" Korsak said sharply and pushed Jane to their car.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Jane spent the rest of the day recounting what happened over and over again to Lt. Cavanaugh and then a bunch of Internal Affairs investigators and then the District Attorney's office and then Lt. Cavanaugh again.

The second time Cavanaugh came into the interview room, he said, "It's time to talk about your friend. Just to be clear, right now the consensus is that everything you did today was good police work. You'll be put on desk duty for a little while because you discharged your weapon and there's always red tape as IAD completes their investigation. But you need to convince me that you shouldn't be subject to a more serious investigation."

"Sir, can I ask you one question first?"

"I suppose so. What is it Rizzoli?"

"Who called in the tip about Doyle?"

"Someone in the parking lot behind that clinic recognized him and called it in. No name, but it was a man that made the call."

Jane grimaced.

"It wasn't his daughter," Cavanaugh added unnecessarily.

"Seems like you already know everything. What do you want me to tell you?" Jane asked.

Cavanaugh gave her a hard look. "You can start from the beginning. Trust me, I don't want to have to investigate you or punish you further. I don't want to open up this department to any more scrutiny and I don't want to compromise the prosecution of Doyle because one of my detectives has been fucking around with his daughter. But I need to hear your version of the story."

For the second time that day, Jane told the story of how she met Maura and how they started dating and everything about her run in with Doyle on Saturday.

Cavanaugh listened and the first thing he asked was, "Why didn't you report Saturday's incident immediately?"

"It may have partially been the blow to the head. I'm not sure I was really thinking clearly right after. But mostly I've been concerned about Maura's safety. She's created a life for herself separate from her and I don't want her life to get fucked up now and I don't want her to become a target for anyone who finds out she's Doyle's daughter."

"Your concern may have been wasted. She's with him at the hospital right now. Look Rizzoli, are you sure you really know her?"

"Damnit, yes, I'm sure."

Cavanaugh sighed. "Desk duty until further notice. Eight to five every day you should be at your desk in Narcotics, no exceptions. Do not go to the hospital. Do not even think about going to the hospital. Stay away from Doyle. I wish I could tell you to stay away from his daughter too, but I don't think you're going to listen. Just fucking be smart for the next fewfr weeks okay, Rizzoli?"

"Yes, sir," Jane said dejectedly.

Finally dismissed, Jane went home. It was late. She a dozen messages on her phone, mostly from her mother and her brother Frankie. None from Maura. She called Maura but only got her voicemail. She left a message and sent a text asking Maura to call her. She ignored all the rest of her messages and collapsed on her couch and waited.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Maura sat in a chair next to her father's hospital bed. She had used her medical credentials to get into the ambulance and follow him through surgery. She wasn't entirely sure why she was still allowed to be in the hospital room with him. He was still handcuffed to his bed. A multitude of police officers stood in the hallway outside the room. But no one had told her to leave.

Her father was in good condition. The bullet had only gone through muscle in his upper arm and there was only minimal damage that had to be repaired in surgery. He probably could have been released from the hospital but Maura had overheard discussion about arranging transport to jail. It sounded like they hadn't figured out where they were going to hold him prior to his arraignment and then trial.

He hadn't said much to her since the surgery. He was on painkillers and was mostly sleeping. Maura wasn't even sure why she was still sitting here. Partly she was hoping that he would wake up and explain what happened after he left her office. And she was also aware that this would probably be the last moments they would be able to spend together when he wasn't behind bars.

Maura was still trying to make sense of what happened that afternoon. Maybe twenty minutes after her father had left her office, one of her nurses had knocked on her office door and said there was some sort of police action down the street and that she heard they were after Paddy Doyle. Maura hurried down the street but hung back at the edge of the crowd until she saw a stretcher coming out of the building and she saw it was him.

Then she had seen Jane coming out of the buildng. Jane looked confused and scared. But Maura took off toward her father. Later, at the hospital, she overheard officers saying that Detective Rizzoli had shot Patrick Doyle. For some reason Maura wanted to hear it from him. Even though she knew it was probably irrational, she wanted to know what he done that caused Jane to shoot him. And she felt guilty, as if it was her fault that he had been shot and arrested.

It was almost midnight. Jane called a few times and sent a few texts but Maura had ignored them. She wasn't ready to talk to Jane yet.

Maura drifted off to sleep in the chair. She woke up to a raspy voice saying, "Maura...Maura."

Maura leaned forward her chair, wincing at the pain in her neck from sleeping in the chair. "I'm here."

"Why are you still here?"

Maura didn't really answer that question, instead she said, "You got caught because you came to see me."

"It's not your fault."

"What happened?" Maura asked.

"Rizzoli shot me."

"Why?"

"Probably because she thought I was going to shoot her partner."

"Were you going to?"

He didn't answer right away. Maura thought he had drifted back to sleep, but then he said, "To get away, yes I was going to shoot."


	15. Chapter 15

When she left the hospital in the morning, Maura went straight home. Her father was being released from the hospital into custody. She'd learned that he would be held at the Nashua Street Jail for the indictment and probably stay there through trial if there was one. Which meant that he would be close enough that she could visit any day she wanted to. If she wanted to.

She didn't respond to Jane's many voicemails and texts all asking for forgiveness and pleading for Maura to call her. Instead she did what she always did, shut down and close in on herself until she could figure things out on her own. She took a day off, which she spent in bed sleeping and crying. But after that she went to work each day as if nothing had happened and then went home and spent each night alone. Like she used to before she met Jane.

One day after work she had a visit from an FBI officer. It seemed rather routine and almost exactly like the FBI interrogations she had endured over a decade ago. They asked a lot of questions that she had no answer for.

Where had Patrick Doyle been for the past ten years? Why was he back in Boston now?

She couldn't even answer the question of why he had visited her office on Monday because she honestly had no idea why he had come. She didn't know why he had made any visits to her in the past few weeks. She didn't know why he had come after Jane. She didn't know what he was doing at all.

Maura wanted to see Jane but she didn't want to have to talk about her father anymore. Jane's messages and texts were full of apologies and Maura didn't think she had the emotional capacity to deal with that right now.

And now she had the added concern about what would happen once her relationship to Patrick Doyle became public knowledge. It seemed like it could only be a matter of time before that happened and her life would be overtaken by his crimes again.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Jane did exactly as she was told. Each day she was at her desk at 8am sharp. Each day she sat there with little to do but hope Maura would contact her at some point.

At the end of the week, Jane's desk phone rang and the caller ID showed it was Lt. Cavanaugh calling. She answered her phone, "Rizzoli."

"I need you upstairs in my office now, Rizzoli," Cavanaugh said brusquely and hung up without waiting for a response.

Jane went upstairs and entered Cavanaugh's office where he was sitting with another man. Cavanaugh stood and said, "Detective Rizzoli, this is Agent Gabriel Dean. The FBI is taking over Doyle's case and he'd like to speak with you."

"Okay. When?" Jane asked.

Agent Dean stood as well and said, "Now, if that's okay."

"Yeah, sure." Jane motioned for him to follow her and she found and empty interview room for them to use. Jane sat down and waited for Agent Dean to start.

He sat down slowly across from her and said, "Congratulations, Detective Rizzoli. I understand you were the officer who shot Paddy Doyle which led to his arrest."

"If it hadn't been me, it would have been someone else. He was completely surrounded and Detective Korsak and I just happened to be the ones to run into him."

"I've read the report. It seems fairly straight forward. And no one is going to really question whether or not you had to shoot him. All that matters is he's been arrested. So, let's talk about Maura Doyle, aka Maura Isles."

Jane didn't flinch. She kept her face neutral and said, "Okay."

Dean leaned forward in his chair and asked, "What is the nature of your relationship with Maura Isles?"

"None of your business," Jane said evenly.

Agent Dean opened the file folder he'd set on the table in front of him. "You met Dr. Isles at the Boston Community Service Partnership fundraising dinner. Shortly afterwards you had dinner at her house. Then you started seeing her pretty regularly. Dinner, dancing, and you spent some nights at her house."

"When did the FBI re-start surveillance on Dr. Isles?" Jane asked.

"When she returned to Boston."

"On what grounds?"

"None of your business, Detective. Did you know she was Patrick Doyle's daughter when you first met her?" Dean asked.

"No, but I found out a few days later."

"So you knew she was Patrick Doyle's daughter when you started dating her?"

"How is this relevant?" Jane asked, still managing to remain calm.

"The FBI likes to cover all of our bases."

"Is that why it took over a decade for the FBI to swoop in and get their hands on Doyle and only after BPD caught him?"

"You met with Patrick Doyle Saturday night at Dr. Isles' house."

"I was kidnapped by Patrick Doyle."

"He asked for your help."

"And I said no. Which you already know because you already know all of this. So why are you asking me these questions?"

"Detective Rizzoli," Dean said slowly, "unlike your shitty little police department, the FBI takes this seriously."

"Takes what seriously? You've been watching Maura so you know that she's not involved in Doyle's operation. She's probably never had a bad fucking thought in her life. So unless you have something you actually want to ask me, I'm leaving."

Agent Dean leaned back in his chair and finally broke his gaze with Jane. He was quiet for a moment before saying, "The past few months have been busy for Patrick Doyle. We thought he was planning something big, but we weren't sure what."

"Well I have no fucking clue so I don't know why you're asking me all these questions."

"Arresting Doyle kind of messed up our operation."

Jane nodded in understanding. "You've been watching him and were waiting to see what the whole plan was before making your move?"

Agent Dean nodded. "We think something changed or maybe went wrong. It's unclear what but there were rumblings of upheaval or revolt within Doyle's operation. The past few days he was out and about a lot."

"Maybe he figured out the FBI was watching him. Or are you suggesting he wanted to be caught?"

Dean shrugged. "I'm not sure. But after years of hiding successfully, he got arguably caught kind of easily. Or maybe he was making mistakes because he was desperate, I don't know."

"But now, if he was planning anything else, you don't know what it was," Jane said.

"Nope."

"Maybe it was nothing like that. Maybe his operations were being threatened and he was just trying to shore up his position again and it didn't work out. But I definitely have no idea. Do you have any other questions for me?"

"Would you like to have dinner with me tonight?" Dean asked.

Jane raised her eyebrows. "Really?"

"Sure."

"Thanks, but no thanks," Jane said as she stood up. She held out her hand to Dean to shake his. "I'd prefer if we never had to see each other again."

He shook her hand and said, "Fair enough."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

After work Jane went to Maura's house determined not to leave until Maura talked to her. She knocked on Maura's front door and Maura answered looking tired and apprehensive.

"Can I come in?" Jane asked when Maura didn't say anything.

Maura nodded and moved to let Jane inside.

Unsure where to begin, Jane said, "The FBI has been spying on you since you moved back to Boston."

"Is that why you're here? Maura asked.

"I'm here because I thought you deserved to know that. And you aren't answering my phone calls or texts. And I fucking wanted to see you. I know things are all fucked up, but please don't shut me out."

Maura was silent.

"Maura? Please talk to me."

Jane followed as Maura wandered into her living room and sat down. "I don't know why I'm upset. He's fine physically. But you shot my father, Jane, and I don't know how I'm supposed to feel about that. I just keep thinking about how I would be reacting if he had died. When I saw him on Monday we talked about my mother and I have so many more things I want to ask him. If you had taken that away from me, I don't know if I could have forgiven you."

Jane listened and waited to make sure Maura didn't have anything else to say before saying, "Will you come with me somewhere?"

"Where?" Maura asked warily.

"I want to explain something to you but it will be better if I can show you."

"Okay," Maura agreed.

Jane drove to Revere and when she pulled into the parking lot at the shooting range, Maura spoke for the first time during their twenty minute ride. "What are we doing here?"

"Just trust me. Please?"

The went inside and Jane got two pairs of ear protectors and led them to an open aisle. She pushed a button and the target at the end of the aisle came forward to them. "Okay, I want to show you something. But first, in your medical opinion, if you wanted to subdue but not seriously injure or kill someone where would you shoot them?"

"Any gunshot wound has the potential to be deadly," Maura answered. "The bullet could damage arteries that could cause someone to bleed out. And there's always a longer term risk of infection from the wound."

"But if you wanted to minimize that risk?"

"Fleshy areas of the arms or legs," Maura said, brushing her fingers against those places on the target. "If that wasn't an option and you had to shoot then probably the lower abdomen away from the spine. There would be potential for organ damage but risk of death would be low as long as there was immediate medical attention available."

Jane nodded and said, "Hold on a second." She went back to the customer counter and returned with a black marker that she handed to Maura. "Mark those places on the target."

Maura made a number of small Xs on the target and then Jane sent it back to its starting position.

Jane gave Maura a pair of the ear protectors and put her own on. She took her gun out of its holster and Maura took a few steps back. Jane took a deep breath and in one smooth motion Jane raised the gun, fired a series of shots, and returned the gun to her holster.

Jane hit the button to bring the target forward. All of the Xs had a hole through them. Maura stepped forward and looked in awe at the clean holes through all of her marks, most of them right through the middle.

They both removed their ear protection and Maura said, "Wow. I didn't know that I could be impressed by that."

Jane remained focused though. "That was 25 yards. In the building, Doyle, I mean, your father, was standing about 10 yards from me. He had a gun pointed at Detective Korsak. When I arrived, he lowered the gun and asked me a question."

"What did he ask?" Maura interrupted to ask.

"He wanted to know if it was you that gave him up."

"What did you tell him?"

"We got a tip from someone who saw him entering your building. After I told him that he raised his gun at Korsak again and I shot him in the arm. He dropped the gun and we were able to arrest him. Do you understand what I'm saying?"

Maura nodded. "You were making sure you wouldn't kill him."

Jane sighed. "Why didn't you call me when he arrived at your office?"

Maura shook her head. "He's my father. No matter what else he is, he's still my father. I couldn't turn him in. But honestly, calling you never even crossed my mind when he was there."

"All I care about is protecting you. We could have avoided all of this," Jane said, gesturing with her arms, "if you had just called me."

"Can we go somewhere else now?" Maura asked.

"Anywhere in particular?"

"Somewhere quieter, please. I don't care where."

"Alright, I know where we can go," Jane said.

Ten minutes later they pulled up in front of Jane's mother's house. "Is this okay?"

"Yes. I think this is just what I need," Maura answered.


	16. Chapter 16

Jane used her key to let them into her mother's house and called out "Ma?"

Angela appeared and immediately smacked Jane's arm and said, "Jane! Why haven't you called me all week?"

"Ma, you know it's been busy. And it's not like I normally call you everyday."

Angela moved around Jane to get to Maura and give her a hug. "Maura, it's so nice to see you again."

"It's nice to see you too," Maura answered, catching Jane's eye over Angela's shoulder. Jane just shrugged. "So what are you two doing here?"

Jane ignored that question, instead asking, "Are we too late for dinner?"

"I have some lasagna in the fridge I can heat up for you."

"That would be great, Ma. Do you mind if I take Maura upstairs for a minute? We need to talk."

Angela dismissed them with a wave of her hand. "Go ahead. I'll call you down when the food is ready."

Jane grabbed Maura's hand and led her upstairs and into the first room on the right and shut the door. Maura immediately became engrossed in looking around the room. "This was your room as a child?"

"Yeah. Ma has been bugging me for months to clean it out and do something with all of this stuff."

"What does she want to use this room for?"

"I don't know. I think she'd rather sell the place so she can move. Or have me move back in, of course."

Maura raised an eyebrow at the pink canopy bed. "This was your bed?"

Jane grimaced. "I didn't pick it out. My mother always wanted a girly girl. I guess she thought if she tried hard enough maybe I'd become one."

"What did you want instead of this?"

"A horse," Jane answered.

Maura laughed and went back to looking at items around the room.

Jane sat down on the edge of the bed and after a moment said, "Maura?"

"Hmm?" Maura answered without really paying attention.

"I love you."

Maura's breath hitched and she turned around to look at Jane with a confused look on her face, as if she hadn't heard Jane correctly. "What?"

"I love you," Jane repeated.

Maura looked at Jane for a moment, biting her bottom lip, before saying, "You said that to me when you had a concussion. I thought you were already asleep and I didn't know if you meant it."

Jane reached out to grab Maura's hand and pulled her so Maura was standing between her legs. "I know we haven't known each other very long and maybe this isn't the best time to be telling you, but I want you to know that I love you."

Maura ran her fingers in Jane's hair and bent down to give her a lingering kiss. "Jane," she whispered against Jane's lips. "I love you too."

Jane pulled Maura closer and into another kiss until they heard Angela yelling from downstairs,"Jane!"

Jane rolled her eyes at Maura and called back, "What is it, Ma?"

"You should come down here and see this," Angela yelled.

Downstairs they found Angela in front of the television with the local news on.

On the screen a reporter was saying, "We now return to our continuing coverage of the arrest of mob boss Paddy Doyle. Earlier this week we learned that it was Detective Jane Rizzoli who a shot and apprehended Paddy Doyle on Monday. According the Boston Police Department, Detective Rizzoli is not available for comment. And tonight there is new information about what Paddy Doyle was doing right before his arrest."

"Ma, you should turn-" Jane started to say, but Maura stopped her.

"Jane, it's okay," Maura said.

The news went to a reporter standing outside of Maura's clinic saying, "This is the South Boston clinic where Paddy Doyle was spotted shortly before his arrest on Monday. WBZ News has learned that the founder and director of this clinic, Dr. Maura Isles, is the daughter of Paddy Doyle."

"Shit," Jane said.

"There is no word yet on what Paddy Doyle was doing at the clinic," the reported continued, "or what connection Dr. Isles has to Doyle's illegal operations. Calls to the clinic and Dr. Isles's home have not been returned."

"Fuck," Jane muttered and then glanced at Maura who was looking at television with a blank expression. "Hey," Jane said, putting her hand on Maura's arm. "Are you okay?"

Maura shook her head and said pensively, "I've been expecting this all week. I wonder what took them so long."

"I wonder who told them. It must have been someone at BPD. You're probably going to be reporters at your house waiting for you now," Jane said. "You shouldn't go home, at least until you figure out what you want to say or if you want to say anything at all."

Angela had been silent but she jumped in to say, "That's right. You can stay right here, Maura. As long as you need to."

"That's very kind, but-"

"Yes," Jane agreed. "Why don't we both stay here tonight? You can figure out what you want to do next tomorrow morning. But let's just relax here for one night."

"Are you sure?" Maura asked.

"Yes," both Jane and Angela answered.

Angela turned off the television and said to Jane, "Why don't you see if the food is ready."

While Jane went to the kitchen, Angela took Maura's hands in hers. "I'm so sorry sweetheart. I had no idea you were dealing with all of this right now. If there is anything I can do let me know."

Maura shook her head and said, "That's very kind but you don't have to say that. I'm used to being alone and handling things on my own."

Angela squeezed Maura's hands. "You are important to Jane and that makes you as good as family. And that's not how we do things in this family."

"Yeah, in this family we nag you to death," Jane said from the doorway.

"Do you always have to make everything a joke, Jane?" Angela said, glaring at her daughter.

"I don't want you to scare Maura away. And the food is ready."

Maura turned back to Angela and said, "Thank you, Angela, for everything." Then she followed Jane into the kitchen to eat.

After eating, Maura and Jane returned to Jane's old room. Angela had left towels and toothbrushes on the bed and both women got ready for bed. Jane found them t-shirts among her old things to wear.

Once they were in bed, laying side by side on their backs, Jane said, "You haven't said much. How are you really doing?"

In response, Maura said, "You shouldn't be so hard on your mother."

"I wasn't being hard on her. That's just...how we are. And I have to keep her in check or she'd be so much worse. I mean that was nothing compared to how crazy she would be if I let her."

"I would love to have a mother like that. Or a father." When Jane was silent, Maura continued, "In the morning, I'm going to go home. If there are reporters there, I'll make a statement. I just want to get it over with."

"What are you going to say?"

"I don't know yet."

"I, uh, can't be there with you, you know."

"What do you mean?" Maura asked.

"You must know that it will be worse for both of us if any reporters find out that there is any connection between us. A lot worse."

Maura was incredulous. "How are we supposed to avoid that?"

"I don't know."

"Jane? What are we supposed to do, hide out forever?"

"Not forever."

"For how long, then?" Maura asked, her voice rising in anger.

"I don't know. At least until there aren't reporters hanging around outside your house."

"And what if they don't leave? What if they stay throughout my father's trial? That could be months or longer."

"Someone will find out eventually somehow. I know that. But have you thought about what you are going to say when a reporter asks you, or you are called to testify and you get asked about your girlfriend shooting your father? What are you going to do when they suggest that I was using you to get to your father? Or you were using me to help your father? Or any number of fantasies that the media can think up?"

"I'll tell the truth," Maura answered simply.

"And in the newspapers and on TV they'll say whatever they want to."

"I'll ignore them."

"Do you think it will really be that easy?" Jane asked, almost bitterly.

"I've been doing it my whole life." Maura turned on her side towards Jane. "What are you worried about?"

Jane laughed, but it was without humor. She rolled onto her side so she facing Maura, their noses almost touching. "I'm worried about you having to go through all of this and I'm kind of worried about losing my job. But mostly I'm afraid of losing you."

Maura brought a hand to Jane's cheek briefly before crushing her lips against Jane's.

Jane was momentarily surprised, but quickly responded to the kiss by pressing against Maura and then moving Maura onto her back and shifting on top of her.

"We are in this together, remember?" Maura said.

"Are you sure?" Jane asked. Maura nodded and Jane kissed her but then pulled back with a frown. "Will you stop shutting me out then?"

"What do you mean?"

"When things get difficult you tend to disappear. The next few weeks, or months, or whatever, when things inevitably get rough, don't disappear. Don't hide from me."

Maura shook her head. "I'm sorry. I'm accustomed to dealing with things on my own. I'm used to having no other option than to deal with things on my own."

"If we are in this together," Jane said seriously, "then that strategy is not going to work anymore. And, you know, I'm here for you. I want to be here for you."

"I know you are."

Jane kissed Maura again, and rolled her hips against Maura, eliciting a soft moan. Maura's hands slipped under Jane's t-shirt.

"Um, do you think you can you be quiet?" Jane asked.

"Do you think you can?" Maura asked back. Jane responded by rolling her hips again. Maura bit her lip to stifle another moan and spread her legs further. "I can be quiet," Maura whispered.

Jane moved to pull off Maura's underwear and then her own. Jane moved her mouth to Maura's neck while her hand found wetness between Maura's legs and fingers slipped easily inside.

"Let me touch you too," Maura said softly.

Jane shifted and then grunted as Maura entered her. Maura's other hand went to Jane's face and turned it towards her. "Shh," she said, before claiming Jane's mouth with her own. Their bodies moved together, quieting each other's moans with consuming kisses, until they both found release.

Jane relaxed her body and dropped her forehead to Maura's shoulder. "Fuck, Maura."

Maura ran her fingers through Jane's hair. "I love you, Jane."

Jane smiled against Maura's neck. "I love you too."


	17. Chapter 17

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to everyone who is still reading this story. I know it doesn't get updated very often but I do have some plans for things to come so thanks for sticking with me.

The next morning, Jane called Frankie and asked him to drive by Maura's house and assess the situation. Frankie reported that there were a dozen or more reporters and cameras hanging around outside her house.

After Jane's prodding, Maura decided to not just give herself up to the throng of reporters. After a long discussion they came up with a plan on how she could make a statement and hopefully satisfy everyone's curiosity without becoming a spectacle and dealing with the indignity of people shouting questions at her while she simply tried to go home.

Instead Maura called a reporter from the Boston Globe who had previously done a story on her clinic. Maura offered to come to the Globe's headquarters building where she would give a statement and answer questions as long as the Globe allowed a small group of reporters from news stations and other newspapers to attend. She let the Globe reporter organize who else would be in the room and otherwise let it be set up like any press conference would be.

Jane drove Maura to the Globe's office to prepare. They had a long discussion about whether Jane should stay with her, with Jane offering to stay, but ultimately Maura told her to go. She told Jane that this was something she needed to do on her own.

Maura had arranged to have clothing brought to the Globe offices and once she had prepared what she was going to say and had changed into a new, modest, dark blue dress, the reporters were assembled and waiting.

A Globe staff person brought Maura into a large room that had a podium set up for her. Reporters were sitting in rows of chairs in front of her with cameras in the back of the room. She heard the snap of photographers' cameras as she walked to the podium.

In a voice that was shakier than she would have liked, Maura began, "My name is Dr. Maura Isles. As everyone has already learned, Patrick Doyle is my father. I had no knowledge that my father was involved in any illegal activities until he disappeared when I was a student at Harvard University. For more than twelve years I had no contact with him. The only contact I did have was when he visited me at the South Boston Women's Clinic, where I work, and when he was first brought to the hospital after being shot. I have no knowledge of where he has been for more than a decade. I will answer any questions you have now as best as I am able."

The Globe staff person stepped up next to Maura to assist her by calling on reporters to ask questions.

The first question was, "Have you been questioned by the police?"

"I have been questioned by the FBI on multiple occasions. I was questioned last week and have been questioned in the past," Maura answered.

"Why did Doyle come to see you?"

"I honestly don't know. There didn't seem to be a specific reason."

"What did you talk about with your father when he visited you?" the next reporter asked.

"I asked him about my mother. She died when I was very young and I never really knew her and I've had no one to ask about her."

"Will you visit him in prison?"

Maura considered that question and answered honestly, "Maybe. I don't know."

The next called on reporter said, "Dr. Isles, you left Boston shortly after Paddy Doyle did. Are we really to believe you had no contact with him?"

"I graduated from Harvard three years after my father went into hiding. After that I went to New York City for medical school, San Francisco for residency, and then spent two years in Ethiopia with Médecins Sans Frontières before returning to Boston almost a year ago. I had no contact with my father during that time period. I believe during at least some of that time I was under surveillance by the FBI, so you can always ask them that question."

A younger woman Maura recognized as being an anchor from one of the local news stations asked, "Dr. Isles, what do you have to say to the families of your father's victims?"

"I, um...," Maura paused as she figured how to respond to that. "I don't think it would be appropriate for me to comment on anything of that nature at the moment. My father has yet to be charged with any crimes and he has not been convicted of anything."

The news anchor followed up with, "How could you not have known anything about Paddy Doyle's operations? He was a well known figure in South Boston."

"When I was a child I was very sheltered and frankly I didn't really socialize with many people. I was primarily raised by my grandmother. As far as I knew my father ran an auto repair shop. I know how naive that sounds now, but I had no reason to think otherwise when I was growing up."

A friendlier voice asked, "Are you concerned that you could be in danger, that one of Paddy Doyle's many enemies might come after you for retaliation against him."

"My father is in federal custody. I can't imagine there would be anything to gain from hurting me now."

The staff person stepped up to say, "I think we can stop the questions there. Any additional requests to interview Dr. Isles can be directed to me as I said before we started. Thank you for coming," she concluded before gesturing for Maura to follow her out of the room.

As Maura walked towards the door a voice called out, "Dr. Isles, what is your relationship with Detective Rizzoli?"

A murmur went through the room and Maura turned toward the question asker and said, "Excuse me?"

The reporter held up her phone and said, "I just got a message that a source within the Boston Police Department is saying you are involved in a romantic relationship with Detective Jane Rizzoli."

Maura hesitated to respond and more questions were shouted out.

"Did you turn your father in?"

"Did you ask Detective Rizzoli to shoot Paddy Doyle?"

Maura shook her head and stepped back up to the podium. "No I did not ask anyone to shoot my father. No, I didn't turn him in. Perhaps I should have reported that he visited me, but I didn't. And finally, yes, I have been dating Detective Jane Rizzoli for the past few months. But her involvement in my father's capture was entirely coincidental."

There were murmurs of disbelief and someone shouted out, "Was she just using you to get to Paddy Doyle?"

"No, my father has nothing to do with our relationship," Maura responded sharply. Then she said, "Thank you," and walked away from the podium.

Maura was led to a small office next to the press conference room and she simply sat quietly for awhile. She had no idea if that had gone well or terribly. She had no idea who had provided the information that she and Jane were dating. She didn't mind it being out in the open. They had nothing wrong and she wasn't ashamed of their relationship but she was worried about how Jane would react.

Someone knocked on the door and entered to say, "Dr. Isles, we have a car ready for you whenever you're ready to go."

"Thank you," Maura said as she stood. She followed this staff person to the back of the building where a black town car was waiting. She got in and gave the driver Jane's address.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

After dropping Maura off at the Globe office, Jane went home to her apartment. She was full of nervous energy, but she didn't have any desire to do anything about it. She just wanted all of this to be past them. She just wanted to have a normal couple of weeks during which she and Maura could just be together without all of these complications.

Her phone rang and the caller ID showed a BPD extension. She answered the phone, "Rizzoli."

"Rizzoli, it's Lieutenant Cavanaugh. We've got a problem."

"What is it, Sir?"

"Someone tipped off the press that you and Doyle's daughter having been dating," Cavanaugh said.

"What? Who?" Jane asked angrily.

"I don't know who. Not very many people knew. Maybe someone in IAD? But it's out now and we have to deal with it. Look, I'm the one calling you because we've been discussing bringing you over to Homicide, so this is really a shame."

Jane was confused. "What's a shame?"

Cavanaugh sighed. "I'm sorry, but you're being placed on administrative leave while there is a formal investigation."

"What? You all knew about this before. IAD has already done an investigation. You all know I'm clean," Jane argued.

"We were the only ones who knew about your relationship with Dr. Isles before," he explained. "Now everyone knows, and we have to look like we're doing something about it. Don't worry, Jane. It won't be forever."

"This is bullshit!"

"Just think about it as a vacation and I'm sure you'll be back in no time. And administrative leave means you'll still get paid."

"It's still bullshit," Jane said, but softer. "Sir, am I gonna get another shot at Homicide?"

"I hope so, Rizzoli."

During the phone call Jane had been pacing in her living room, but after hanging up she tossed the phone away and slumped onto her couch. She flipped on the television and found herself looking at a her police ID photo while the news anchor talked about the revelation that the police officer who shot Paddy Doyle was also dating his daughter.

Then the news program moved into showing the video of Maura's statement and her answering questions. Her phone rang with her mother's ring tone and Jane reluctantly answered it. After telling her mother that yes, she was watching the news, and no, she wasn't upset with Maura because of course that would be unfair to Maura, she managed to get off the phone. Five seconds later, Frankie called and Jane had almost the same exact same conversation with him.

When she finally got off the phone there was knocking at the door and Jane got up, checked the peephole, and opened the door to a tired looking Maura.

"I'm sorry," was the first thing out of Maura's mouth.

Maura looked so defeated, Jane couldn't have been mad at her even if she wanted to. "It's not your fault. You weren't the one to bring up our relationship," Jane responded as she let Maura into the apartment.

"So you heard?"

Jane pointed at the television which was now replaying the video of Maura speaking. "I think you did a good job," Jane said sincerely.

"Really?" Maura asked.

Jane grabbed the remote to turn off the television. "Yes. And you were honest about everything, which is the most important thing."

Maura sighed and said, "What do we do now?"

Jane moved in front of Maura so she could wrap her arms around Maura's waist. "Maybe we can move on with our lives? I'm gonna be on a bit of a forced vacation for awhile, let's go someplace where we can just be alone."

"What do you mean forced vacation?"

Jane shrugged and tried to sound casual as she answered, "Because our relationship is out in the open now, Internal Affairs has to do another investigation, so I'm suspended. But it's not a big deal."

"Are you sure? It sounds like a big deal."

"Maura, you are all that matters to me right now. I just want to be with you without all of this other stuff getting in our way anymore. I know I said I didn't want our relationship to become news, but now that it has, I'm kinda relieved. I didn't want to have to hide and now we don't have to. Everything is out in the open now so hopefully it will all blow over soon."

"You really want to go away with me?"

"Sure, let's take a vacation. Someplace it can just be the two of us. What do you think?"

"Maybe. I'll have to make sure there's nothing I have to deal with at work that can't be changed or someone else can't handle. Where do you want to go?"

"Anywhere," Jane said before leaning forward to press her lips against Maura's. Her hands on Maura's hips pulled Maura flush against her body as the kiss deepened and their tongues swirled around each other.

Maura pulled out of the kiss and, a little breathless, said, "You make a very persuasive argument. But I haven't eaten since breakfast. Can we go get dinner? We can discuss our trip while we eat."

"Sounds good to me," Jane agreed.

They went out for dinner and then Maura wanted to go to her house so they walked there, chatting about vacation destinations the whole way without coming to any agreement.

When they got closer to Maura's house they could see someone was sitting on Maura's front steps. When they turned onto the walkway to Maura's house, a blonde woman who looked like she was in her late forties stood up.

As they approached Maura said, "Can I help you?"

"Maura," the woman said, "I'm Hope Martin. I'm your mother."

Jane only had a second to register what the woman had said before looking at Maura and realizing just in time that Maura was about to faint. Maura swayed and started to fall. Jane grabbed Maura under the arms just before she fell completely.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I apologize for a bit of a cliff-hanger. I usually don't do that but I didn't want you all to think that it was just going to be smooth sailing in this AU from now on :) Thanks for reading.


	18. Chapter 18

Jane managed to find Maura's keys in her purse while holding her up under her arms. Once she had the keys she lifted Maura into her arms and carried her up the steps. She turned to the woman who claimed to be Maura's mother and said, "Um, can you give us a few minutes?"

The woman nodded and Jane brought Maura inside, closed and locked the door behind her, and laid Maura down on her couch. Jane knelt on the floor next to her and rubbed her hand gently on Maura's cheek and said, "Maura, honey, wake up, you're okay."

"What happened?" Maura murmured after a moment.

"You fainted."

"That woman?"

"She's outside. Can I get you some water or something?" Jane asked.

"Sure," Maura answered and Jane helped her sit up on the couch. A few moments later Jane returned with a glass of water and Maura sipped at it and said, "What am I supposed to do now?"

Jane sat down next to Maura. "I guess we hear what she has to say."

"Jane, my mother is dead."

"What if she's not?"

Maura shook her head. "She must have seen me on the news and is either trying to defraud me or has some sort of mental instability." Maura looked at Jane. "Why aren't you more skeptical of her?"

"Well, there was a physical resemblance. And the only reason you believe your mother is dead is because your father told you that, right? I don't consider him the most trustworthy source. I mean, who knows?"

"Jane, this is crazy."

"Yeah, it is. But we should probably hear what she has to say. You can always just do a DNA test right? If she's lying that will prove it."

"I suppose." Maura sighed. "There's no way to get around this, is there?"

"I could tell her to leave," Jane offered.

"No. You're right. We should see what she has to say. I think you should bring her inside."

A minute later they were all sitting together uncomfortably in Maura's living room. Jane had rejoined Maura on the couch and Hope took a seat in the armchair. Jane offered her a drink but Hope declined. That left them all sitting in an awkward silence.

Finally, Hope said, "I'm not really sure how to begin so I'll just say again, Maura, I'm your mother."

"My mother is dead," Maura said almost automatically.

Hope frowned slightly. "I'm not dead and I'm not entirely sure why you think I am. I know this is confusing and difficult to hear, but please give me a chance to explain."

Maura was incredulous. "Confusing? Where have you been for thirty years? How can you begin to explain something like that?"

"Can I show you something?" Maura nodded and Hope pulled a small photo album out of her purse. She opened the album to a specific page and handed it to Maura. "That's you and me and Patrick right after you were born."

"I've seen this picture before," Maura said.

"I'm sure Patrick has a copy, along with most of the pictures in this album."

"Why do you have these?"

"Because I couldn't take you with me. I could only take these pictures."

"With you where? What are you talking about?" Maura asked and Jane reached over and gently took hold on one of her hands.

Hope flinched a little at Maura's questions. She was clearly trying to remain calm and Maura felt somewhat sorry for her tone. Hope said, "Let me try to start from the beginning. I met Patrick when I was eighteen. I had just graduated from high school and was working, trying to save money to go to college. He was a little older and he was handsome and a little intimidating but also sweet and we had a lot of fun together. After dating for only about six months he asked me to marry him.

"You were born about year later. When you were around one year old, I started talking about going to college. I had previously been accepted at MIT but deferred because I didn't have the money. Patrick didn't want me to go. He started not wanting me to leave the house at all without him. I had known his father was involved in the mob. Patrick has stayed out of it before, but something changed after you were born and I don't think I ever really understood the extent of what he started to do for his father. He started being paranoid about my safety and your safety. I could only live like that for so long. I felt like I was imprisoned in my own home.

"Eventually I told him I needed more freedom or I was leaving. He told me to leave, but he wouldn't let me take you with me. I was young and had all these dreams and plans, and I did what I thought was best at the time. I never intended to disappear from your life."

Maura's eyes were wet with tears but she didn't give in to them and her voice was even as she said, "He told me you died. There's a grave we would visit."

"After I left Patrick, he wouldn't let me see you and now I understand why."

"But why didn't you try harder to see me?"

"He made it difficult. He...I don't need to go into details. I convinced myself you were better off without me. And honestly I was afraid of Patrick. Then the longer I was away from you, the harder it seemed to show up and try to explain myself. When I finally gathered the courage, after Patrick disappeared, I couldn't find you. It seemed like you had disappeared too."

"I changed my name and after I graduated from college I left Boston. As far as I knew I had no family remaining and certainly no one who would be looking for me. My entire life I believed my mother was dead and now you're telling me that actually you just abandoned me. How do expect me to react to this news?" Maura asked.

"I understand if you're angry, Maura. I don't expect anything from you. I am hoping, if possible, that over time we can get to know each other. I promise I never wanted to be in this position. Is there anything you want to ask me?"

Maura almost laughed. She had a million questions but she wasn't ready to trust this person yet so she asked, "When you left did you go to school?"

"Yes. College and then medical school. I'm a doctor, a gastroenterologist, but I primarily do research."

"What is your research on?"

"Kidney function."

Maura paused for a moment and then asked softly, "Are you married? Do you have...other children?"

"No and no," Hope answered.

"Did you love my father?"

Hope sighed. "Yes. Despite everything that has happened, I think part of me still loves him. But we were too young and we moved way too fast. I think that was the main problem between us. That and your father was stubborn and he could be cold when he wanted to. And I don't know what would have happened if his father hadn't intervened in our lives the way he did."

"Where do you live?" Maura asked.

"Chicago."

"How long are you in Boston for?"

"I'm not sure."

Maura stood and Hope followed her lead and also stood up. "I think that's enough talking for today. Tomorrow afternoon will you come to my office for a DNA test?"

Hope looked a little surprised but said, "Yes. Of course."

"After that, I...well, we will see what happens. Where are you staying?"

"The Westin in Copley Square," Hope answered.

"Do you need a ride," Jane asked, speaking for the first time since she had let Hope into the house.

"No, thank you, I have a rental car."

Maura wrote down the address of her clinic and handed the piece of paper to Hope and said, "I'll see you tomorrow."

After Hope left, Jane gave Maura a curious look and asked, "You told her to come in the afternoon. What are you planning for tomorrow morning?"

"I'm going to see my father," Maura answered.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

In the morning Maura went to the Nashua Street jail where Patrick Doyle was being held until his trial. She first had to go to a locker room and deposit her coat and purse. Then she went through a metal detector and was brought into a waiting room. After waiting a few minutes her name was called and Maura was brought into a private room where her father was waiting. He was sitting at a table and one hand was handcuffed to an iron bolt in the middle of it. The guard stepped into the doorway and turned his back.

"Why are we in a separate room?" she asked.

Doyle nodded his head toward the guard. "They don't want me around the other inmates. And," he pointed to the ceiling, "they are probably recording us. What are you doing here, Maura?"

Maura sat down across from him and said, "I had a surprising visit from someone yesterday."

"Who?"

"Hope Martin," Maura said.

Doyle's expression remained blank. "So you know?"

"I don't know what I know," Maura said in exasperation, but her father's lack of response to this information seemed to give her the answer she was looking for. "Is it true? My mother isn't dead?"

"Yes, that's true," he answered simply.

"How could you? How could you lie to me like that and for so long?" Maura said angrily.

"Would you have preferred to know that she abandoned us?" Doyle countered.

"I would prefer the truth," Maura said, nearly yelling.

"She left us. Once I realized she really wasn't coming back, I decided the best thing to do to keep her safe was to lie to everyone and say she had been sick in the hospital and died," Doyle explained.

"What about the effect on me? You kept her away. For the past ten years I could have had someone in my life. Family. A mother. You left me with nothing."

"That was never my intention. I only wanted to protect you. I wanted to protect you from the hurt of knowing she left."

Doyle's lack of emotion was infuriating to Maura. "You didn't have to prevent her from ever coming back or having contact with me."

"So she could come and go from your life whenever she wanted and have you be hurt each time she left again," he said angrily, showing emotion for the first time in their conversation.

"You don't get to make decisions like that for everyone else."

"What do you want me to say, Maura?"

Maura shook her head. "I don't know. I've tried so hard to maintain the image I had of you as a child. Even when I knew you were a criminal, I still thought you were a good father. But this... I don't know how I could possibly forgive you for this."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Maura left the prison and went to her office long enough to explain to one of the nurses what to do when Hope Martin arrived that afternoon and to have her own cheek swabbed for the DNA test. Despite confirmation from Doyle that her mother was alive, Maura still needed proof that this person was really her mother. But Maura didn't have it in her to be there to interact with the woman again. Even requesting expedited processing on the test results, it would take a few days to get them, so Maura could wait until then to see Hope again.

She left the clinic and went to Jane's apartment. Jane was surprised to have Maura knocking on her door so early in the day. "I wasn't expected you until later. How did it go?"

"He lied to me," Maura said with tears finally falling. "He lied to me about my mother. She's alive."

Lacking an appropriate verbal response, Jane simply wrapped Maura in a tight hug. "Did you see Hope too?"

"No, I left instructions at the clinic for the genetic test to be run. I couldn't see her again, though. Not yet. I need time."

Jane released Maura from the hug but held on to her upper arms and looked her in the eyes to say, "You aren't under any obligation to anyone to do anything. You don't have to see anyone you don't want to. It's up to you if and when you see Hope again."

Maura smiled for the first time that day. "You're the only person who has ever really known me, Jane. You might be the only person who has ever truly loved me and you're the only person I can really trust. I love you."

"I love you too," Jane responded.


	19. Chapter 19

After listening to Maura recount her full conversation with father that morning, Jane asked, "What do you want to do now?"

"Let's go away, like you suggested."

"Really? You still want to do that, even with everything else that's going on?"

"We have cell phones. Anyone who needs to can reach us. Let's just go someplace within a few hours drive from here. Did you have some place in mind of where we could go?"

"Yeah, I've got an idea of where we can go. Let me make a few calls, and then I just need to pack."

"I'll go home and pack too. Do you want to pick me up when you're ready?"

"Sure." Maura kissed Jane's cheek and went to leave. "Hey Maur," Jane called after her. "Pack a bathing suit."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A few hours later the two women were pulling up in Jane's truck outside a small cabin next to a lake somewhere in southern New Hampshire.

"How did you know about this place?" Maura asked as they got of the car and she looked around at the cabin and surrounding by woods. Other cabins were visible through the trees along the lake.

"My family used to come here when I was a kid. Every few summers we'd rent a cabin here for a few days or sometimes a week. So I called and there was a cabin available. There's a town nearby where we can get groceries and any other supplies we need and there at least used to be a couple of okay restaurants if you'd rather eat out."

"Why don't we unpack and then go get groceries," Maura suggested. "I can make us food here. I don't want to go out, at least not tonight. I just want be with you."

Jane agreed. They brought their bags inside and took a quick tour of the cabin. It was one of the smaller ones on the property with a small kitchen and living room and one bedroom. Then they drove into town and Maura picked out groceries while Jane found some beer.

When they were back at the house, they changed into bathing suits to go explore the lake before it was dark. Behind their cabin, down a short path through the woods, there was a dock extending over the lake.

They walked to the end of the dock and looked over the lake. Other docks dotted their side of the lake where other cabins sat. Across the lake sat larger homes with their own docks and motor boats lined the shore.

"Where did you stay when you came here with your family?" Maura asked.

"Uh, I don't remember which cabin exactly. I don't think it was ever the same one. But there are some cabins with two bedrooms, a master and one with a couple of twin beds that my brothers and I would cram into. We'd get a get a cot too, or sometimes just bring sleeping bags and all sleep on the floor like we were camping."

"That sounds fun," Maura said wistfully.

"Yeah it was. That was a long time ago though. The last time I was here, I was maybe thirteen or fourteen." Jane turned to Maura with a grin and said, "Ready to go in?"

Before Maura could answer, Jane put down her towel, kicked off her shoes and dove right into the lake. "Wooo," she yelled as she surfaced. "That feels good. What are you waiting for? Come on in."

"It's not cold?" Maura asked skeptically.

"It's great. Come on."

Maura put her things down and dove in too. When she surfaced, she said, "Oh my god, this is not warm," and splashed water at Jane.

"Hey, I didn't say it was warm. I said it felt good. And it does. I haven't been swimming like this in years."

Maura splashed water at Jane again. Jane dove under the water and resurfaced behind Maura and wrapped her hands around Maura's waist. "Want me to warm you up?"

"No," Maura said with a laugh. "I don't trust you."

"You don't?" Jane said in a low voice in Maura's ear.

Maura turned in Jane's arms to face her. "Not in the water," she answered and then before Jane could react she put her hands on Jane's shoulders and pushed all her weight down on them, dunking Jane under the water.

Jane came back up laughing. Maura had tried to swim away but Jane quickly caught up with her. Maura squealed when Jane caught up to her and pulled their bodies together. "Don't dunk me," Maura pleaded while wrapping her arms around Jane's neck and her legs around Jane's waist.

"I would never do that," Jane said before leaning in and capturing Maura's lips in a kiss. Maura pulled Jane even closer and deepened the kiss, swirling her tongue through Jane's mouth. Maura shivered and Jane asked, "Are you cold?"

"A little."

"Let's go inside. It'll be dark soon anyway."

Maura showered first and then started working on dinner. Jane showered and then built a fire in the fireplace in the living room. She laid down a blanket on the floor in front of the fire and when dinner was ready they sat on the floor with their food and ate in relative silence.

When they were done, Jane cleaned up the dishes and brought them each another beer. She sat back down on the floor in front of the fire, leaning back against the base of the couch and long legs stretched out in front of her, and wrapped her arm around Maura's shoulder.

"This is nice," Maura said. "How long do we have the cabin for?"

"As long as we want. I got us hooked up."

"Oh really?"

"Sure. How long do you want to stay? A week? A month? Wanna stay forever?"

"That sounds like you're asking me to move in with you," Maura joked.

"It might be a little early for that. But...I hope... someday you'll want me to ask you to move in with me."

"Do you have to do the asking, or am I allowed to ask you?"

"You can ask me anything you want."

Maura turned towards Jane. She took the beer bottle out Jane's hand and set it down and then straddled Jane's lap. "Have you thought about how random it was for us to have met?" she asked.

Jane countered with her own question. "Do you believe in fate?"

"Fate is the idea that there is a force or power that predetermines events. I don't believe that there is any evidence that such a force or power exists or that anything is predetermined. Do you believe in fate?"

"Maybe. I'm not sure about the concept of a power that predetermines events, but I kinda feel like we were destined to meet. Maybe that's too strong a word, but it seems like eventually our paths were going to cross one way or another."

"I suppose that's possible."

"All I really know is that I'm very glad we met," Jane said.

"Me too," Maura agreed.

Jane put her hand on the back of Maura's neck and pulled her forward into a kiss. Maura's hands went to Jane's neck and her tongue traced Jane's upper lip. Jane's lips parted to allow Maura entrance and her hands went to Maura's back to pull her closer.

Maura broke the kiss to pull Jane's t-shirt over her head and Jane did the same, pulling Maura's tank top off and tossing it behind them on the couch. Jane returned her lips to Maura's mouth while she removed Maura's bra.

With her hands on Maura's hips, Jane maneuvered them so Maura was on her back on the blanket in front of the fire and Jane was above her. Jane kissed Maura's mouth one more time and then moved to Maura's neck.

She kissed slowly down Maura's neck and down her chest and slid her body between Maura's legs. When she reached Maura's breast she swirled her tongue around Maura's nipple until it hardened and then sucked it into her mouth. Maura arched her back and pushed her hips upward.

Jane slid a hand inside Maura's pants and around to cup her ass as she moved her mouth to the other breast and sucked on that nipple until Maura moaned. She sat up and swiftly pulled off Maura's pants and underwear. She lay back down and hooked one of Maura's legs over her shoulder and returned a hand to Maura's ass.

Jane licked through Maura's slit several times while she squeezed her ass. "Oh Jane," Maura moaned as Jane's tongue focused on her clit, alternating between circling it and flicking her tongue over it.

Maura moaned again and tangled her hand in Jane's hair when Jane sucked her clit into her mouth. "Oh, right there. Yes," Maura cried out. Jane continued sucking and flicking her tongue against Maura's clit, while Maura moaned louder and louder and tightened her grip in Jane's hair, until Maura's moans subsided and she released Jane's head.

Jane laid her head on Maura's stomach.

"Oh god," Maura sighed. "Can we do that all week?"

Jane laughed against Maura's stomach and kissed it a few times before looking up and her and saying, "Absolutely." Jane crawled fully on top of Maura and looked down at her. Maura's eyes were closed and her hair was spread out on the blanket. She said, "You are absolutely stunning," before returning to kissing Maura's neck.

"Take your pants off," Maura said after a moment.

Jane did and then returned to her position on top of Maura. Maura cupped Jane's cheek and said, "You're so beautiful, Jane."

"Please touch me," Jane said.

Maura used her leg to spread Jane's legs wider and put a hand between Jane's legs. She dragged her fingers through Jane's folds and circled her clit. "What do you want?" Maura asked.

"Just...mmm...fuck...inside." Maura pushed two fingers inside Jane and Jane groaned, "Fuck." Maura pumped her fingers and Jane rocked her hips in rhythm. "God, Maura. I'm...close."

Maura moved her thumb over Jane's clit and soon Jane was crying out and had collapsed on top of Maura. "Mmmm," Jane said after a moment, "we can do that again too, right?"

Maura laughed. Jane got up, went into the bedroom, and returned with another blanket and two pillows. She lay back down next to Maura and covered them with the blanket. Soon they were both asleep.


	20. Chapter 20

Jane groaned as she woke up the next morning and rolled onto her back from where she had been curled against Maura's back. Maura stirred and stretched and rolled over too.

"Oh my god," Jane groaned. "Remind me to never sleep all night on the floor again. I can't believe I used to do this all the time as a kid. You okay?"

"A little sore," Maura answered. "But this was my first time sleeping on a cabin floor, or any floor for that matter, and I think it was worth it."

Jane was incredulous. "You've never slept on a floor before?"

Maura rolled back onto her side and Jane slid behind her and wrapped her arm around Maura's waist. "Not that I can recall," Maura answered.

"No childhood sleepovers? Family get togethers where there weren't enough beds for all the kids? College parties where you passed out on the floor?"

"No, none of those things," Maura answered softly. "I wasn't aware there were so many opportunities to sleep on floors."

Jane chuckled. "Hey, you really weren't missing much. And we can sleep here every night we're here if you want to make up for lost time."

"That's sweet, but it's also silly and incredibly unnecessary."

Jane pulled Maura tighter. "Maura, you're not alone anymore. We can do silly and unnecessary things just because I love you. What other dumb childhood things did you not do? We can do those too."

"I don't know," Maura said but she was smiling. While this topic of conversation might have made her melancholy in the past, with Jane it wasn't the same. Jane didn't pity her for what she had missed out on in her childhood.

"Do you want kids?" Jane asked, interrupting Maura's thoughts.

Maura frowned. "I...I don't know. I think I just thought that it was something that wouldn't happen for me and that maybe that was for the best. I didn't exactly have good role models for how to be a good parent."

"That doesn't matter. Lots of people have terrible role models as parents. My dad walked out on my mother after thirty years of marriage and I haven't heard from him since, but that doesn't mean I'll do that. I think if you want the best for your children that's all that matters."

"Do you want children?" Maura asked.

"Maybe. I always assumed it would happen some day when I met the right person."

"How do you know when it's the right person?"

"I don't know. I think you just know when you know."

"Is this your gut again?"

Jane laughed. "Yeah. I trust my gut. It was right about you."

"What are we going to do today?" Maura asked after a moment.

"I've got some ideas."

"Do you think we get off this floor now?"

"Sure."

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 

After a late breakfast, they packed snacks and water and Jane drove them out to a trailhead at a nearby mountain. "I did this hike a few times when I was a teenager," Jane explained. "It has a pretty good view at the top."

They walked leisurely in a comfortable silence for about an hour and reached the peak. They found a place to sit and enjoy the view.

"What are you thinking about?" Jane asked.

"My mother. I looked at my email earlier and the DNA results came back. The woman claiming to be Hope Martin is in fact my mother."

"What are you going to do now?"

"I have no idea. When I was a child I would imagine her showing up and telling me there had been some big misunderstanding. Or that she had to go away on a top secret mission but now she was home and wasn't going to leave me again."

"That is sort of what happened," Jane said. 

"Except it took her thirty years to come back and she left because she didn't want to be my mother."

"She left because she didn't want to be married to Patrick Doyle. There is a difference."

"So you think I should give her a chance?"

"I think if you don't you'll always wonder if you made the right decision and if you miss this opportunity you might regret it later."

Maura fell silent again. Jane leaned back against the boulder they were sitting against and closed her eyes. She was drifting off to sleep when Maura said, "Can I ask you something?"

Jane opened her eyes and looked at Maura who was looking out at the view rather than at her. "Of course you can."

"Have you ever killed anyone?" she asked. "In the line of duty, I mean?"

Jane was quiet for a long time before answering quietly, "Yes."

Maura now turned to look at Jane. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have asked."

Jane waved her off. "No, it's fine. It's not...it's probably not what you're thinking. In the line of duty, I've only discharged my weapon a handful of times. Each time it was while was pursuing a suspect who turned out to be armed and attacked us or was endangering the public in some way. But I never shot to kill and I didn't kill anyone. But I was responsible for someone's death."

Maura frowned as she tried to piece together what Jane was saying. "What do you mean?"

"After I first became a Detective and joined Narcotics, I had my first CI, a confidential informant. I was so... proud of myself. She was a runner for one of the largest drug dealers in Roxbury."

"A runner?" Maura asked.

"A street dealer. The guys at the top of the drug pyramid bring the drugs into the city and parcel it out to the low level folks who do the actual selling. It's these guys on the bottom who get arrested for drug dealing or who end up involved in drug related violence, while the guys at the top never get touched. When they lose a runner, they replace him the next day with another kid who doesn't think he has any better options. It’s mostly guys but there was this one young woman I saw working one corner. So, I pursued her and talked her into helping me get to the top of the pyramid. But I tried to move too fast and sent her into a situation I shouldn't have because I wasn't able to protect her. She was killed and it was my fault. I got her killed."

"I'm sorry. I know it's not the same but I know how I felt when I had patients die. Especially when I was with Médecins Sans Frontières in Ethiopia. There were patients who died because we didn't have access to the same tools and medicine we have here. That will always stay with me."

Jane nodded and said, “We should probably head back."

"Jane." Maura's hand on her arm stopped Jane from getting up. "I don't think any differently of you. You were trying to do a good thing."

"That doesn't mean that it wasn't my fault. But all I can do make sure the same thing never happens again."

 

 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Jane and Maura made there way back down the mountain and drove into town for dinner. By the time they made it back the cabin it was dark.

"Ever go skinny dipping?" Jane asked as they went inside.

"Jane, it's late."

"That's the point. Have you done it before?"

"No."

"Then you don't know what you're missing."

Maura crinkled her nose. "It seems very unhygienic."

"Do you think your bathing suit protects you from whatever is in the water?"

"I suppose not."

Jane raised her eyebrows.

"Okay," Maura agreed. "Let's go."

Jane grabbed towels and a flashlight she found in the cabin and she led the way down the path to the dock. Once there she quickly stripped and dove in the lake. A nearly full moon illuminated the dock and the lake and Jane treaded water and watched Maura more carefully remove her clothing. "Come on, it feels great," Jane called up to her.

Maura looked apprehensive but she dove in too. She resurfaced laughing. Jane was grinning at her as she said, "This does feel good."

"Told ya."

Maura went under the water again and swam over to Jane, surfacing right in front of her and looping her arms around Jane's neck. "Thank you."

"For what?"

"Pushing me out of my comfort zone. I don't just mean the skinny dipping. Without you, the past few months, I probably would have kept myself walled off from the world and I don’t know where I would be right now. You make me want things I never wanted before."

Jane just took in this vision of Maura, lit by the moonlight. "You're so beautiful."

"So are you," Maura responded.

Jane pulled Maura closer by grabbing her ass and pulling her legs around her own waist, and she captured Maura's lips in a rough kiss.

When Jane kissed down Maura's jaw to her neck, Maura said, "Jane Rizzoli, don't you dare think you're going to have sex with me in this dirty lake."

"You seriously want me to stop right now?"

"I want to put this on hold until we can go inside and shower."

Jane sighed dramatically, but said, "Fine. Let's go inside."

They showered separately, and when Jane came into the bedroom wearing only her towel she found Maura laying naked in the middle of the bed. Grinning, Maura said, "I thought we could try the bed tonight."

Jane dropped her towel and climbed on the bed, crawling over Maura's body and tracing her fingers along Maura's side as she moved closer. She made a trail of kisses along Maura's collarbone.

"You don't have to be so gentle," Maura said.

Jane's head snapped up. "What?"

"With me. You don't have to be so gentle. I won't break."

"I don't have to be so gentle or you don't want me to be so gentle?" Jane sought to clarify. When Maura simply bit her bottom lip in response, Jane sat up on her knees. “Turn over.”

Maura turned over and Jane knelt between her legs and pulled on her hips so Maura was on her hands and knees. Jane pushed her knees apart, spreading Maura's legs wider and leaned over Maura's back. Her fingers dug into Maura's hips and she kissed Maura's back. "Anything you ever want...you just have to ask."

Maura moaned as Jane's hand slipped between her legs and fingers slid through her folds gathering increasing wetness. Jane's other hand squeezed Maura's breast until Maura said, "Jane...fuck me."

Jane sat back again and pushed two fingers inside Maura from behind. Her other hand grabbed the top of Maura's thigh and she used that hand to move Maura back and forth as her fingers thrust inside her. Maura moaned, "Yes...Jane...oh...yes," as Jane thrust harder. Jane added another finger and soon felt Maura tighten around her as she moaned louder.

Jane let go of Maura's thigh and slowed her fingers, but Maura said, "Don't stop." Jane resumed thrusting her fingers slowly. Maura pushed herself up into a kneeling position and leaned back against Jane. She reached behind her and dug her fingers into Jane's legs. Jane moved her free hand to Maura's clit and circled it until Maura was pushed over the edge again and her body stilled.

Jane leaned back against pillows propped against the headboard as Maura caught her breath. Maura leaned over and kissed Jane’s stomach. “Mmm...Jane...what do you want?” she asked between kisses. 

Jane threaded her fingers in Maura’s hair and said, “Your mouth.”

Maura smiled and moved between Jane’s legs. She ran her tongue the length of Jane’s center and Jane reflexively tightened her fingers in Maura’s hair. Maura slipped her hands under Jane’s ass and squeezed. When Maura’s tongue circled her clit, Jane pulled down, holding Maura’s head where she wanted it, only letting go when she came.


	21. Chapter 21

Jane woke up to a buzzing sound coming from somewhere on the floor of the bedroom. She got out of bed and located her phone in the back pocket of the jeans she had discarded on the floor the previous night and upon seeing that the caller ID showed a Boston Police Department phone number she answered it, “Rizzoli.”

“Am I catching you at a bad time, Detective?” Lieutenant Cavanaugh asked.

“Uh, no. What can I do for you Lieutenant?”

“Paddy Doyle is talking about a plea.”

“Really?” Jane asked. 

“Yes. But he says he has to talk to you first.”

“Me? Why me?”

“Who the fuck knows,” Cavanaugh answered. “But you need to get over to the jail and see what he wants.”

Jane grimaced and looked over at the bed where Maura was now awake and watching her. “I’m a few hours away, sir.”

“Today, Rizzoli.”

“Yeah, okay,” Jane agreed and ended the phone call, sighing heavily. 

Maura sat up in bed and asked, “What was that about?”

“That was Lieutenant Cavanaugh. Your father is talking about negotiating a plea bargain.”

“Why would he do that?”

“I don’t know, Maura. The feds are prosecuting the case and they could try for the death penalty. Or he could have some elaborate crazy plan. I don’t know.”

“What does this have to do with you?”

“I don’t know that either, but for some reason he has asked to talk to me. And I have to go back to Boston now.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The drive back to Boston was quiet. Both women were lost in their own thoughts. Maura spent the ride staring out the passenger window, worrying her bottom lip. The past two days with Jane had been nearly perfect and having their vacation come to a premature end was more than disappointing. She couldn’t help feeling bitter that it was her father intruding on them again.

The farther they got from the cabin, the more tense Jane became. By the time they crossed the border into Massachusetts she was gripping the steering wheel so tightly her knuckles were white. More than once she considered just turning the truck around and heading back to the cabin, regardless of the consequences to her career. She’d never let her personal life interfere with work, but she’d also always put her career before having a personal life. Maura was different and Jane resented the intrusion on their time together. 

As they neared Boston Jane asked, “Should I drop you off at home?”

“No, I’m coming with you.”

“Are you sure?”

“Of course I’m coming with you. I know you need to do your job and talk to my father. But I want to come. I want to know what happens and I want to be sure you’re okay.”

Jane grinned at Maura’s concern. “Okay. I got it. You’re coming.”

After they arrived at the jail and Jane checked in, she was led in to see Doyle while Maura took a seat in the waiting room. Doyle was in a room with a man Jane assumed was his lawyer who quietly exited when Jane appeared in the doorway. 

Jane stood as tall as she could as she entered the room and sat down across the table from Doyle. It was just the two of them in the private room, although Jane noted a camera mounted in one of the corners. She couldn’t tell if it was on or not. Doyle was cuffed at the ankles and had one hand cuffed to the table, which was bolted to the floor. “I hear you’re considering a plea,” Jane said.

Doyle appraised Jane and answered, “I’m considering my options. For Maura. It’s unfair that she’s being dragged into this and I want to prevent her from having to go through any more public harassment.”

“So why am I here?”

“For some reason you have a hold over my daughter. Can you imagine how that makes me feel?” Doyle said gruffly.

“I can’t imagine how you can feel anything at all,” Jane responded easily.

“You’re a smartass, Detective Rizzoli,” Doyle sneered. “You aren’t good enough for my daughter and I think you know that. I have an offer for you. I’ll make a plea if you agree to never see her again.”

Jane was surprised by his audacity but also by how illogical and frivolous his request was. “You must realize that it’s too late to protect Maura. She’s already been exposed as your daughter and she very capably answered to that. As far as my relationship with Maura, the only person who can end it is her.”

“There is more information that could come out if Maura has to testify and it could affect her negatively. The financial backing for her clinic, for instance, came from money I set up for her when she was a child. Legally, it probably can’t be touched, but her reputation could be ruined if those financial details became public knowledge.” 

 “If your intention is to threaten me, you’re not succeeding,” Jane interjected. “All you’re doing right now is threatening Maura.”

“I’m trying to protect her,” Doyle responded angrily.

“No you aren’t. You don’t know anything about your daughter. I would consider a plea deal if I were you, for yourself, not for Maura. Whatever plea deal they are offering you, you should take, because I’m going get on that stand and tell everyone how you kidnapped me, and beat me, and told me some bullshit about wanting me to be dirty for you.” Jane leaned forward over the table towards Doyle. “And I’ll tell everyone how you told me how you killed Nicholas Massino. That’s one murder that you aren’t going to get away with, and if the feds are planning on going for the death penalty, I’m going to make sure you get it.”

“I never told you that I killed Massino personally,” Doyle sneered.

Jane leaned back in her chair. “Sure you did. You told me how you put that ice pick right in his chest. At least that’s how I remember it.” 

Doyle actually smiled. “You’re wiling to commit perjury just to convict me? Is this how you want to win, Detective? By fighting dirty?”

Jane stood up and said, “No one will ever fight dirtier than you. Next time you want to do something for Maura, maybe you should try talking to her about it. Maybe you could find out what she actually wants, what she cares about. Because they aren’t the same things you care about and they aren’t the same things you want.” With that Jane left. 

Maura sat in the outer waiting room, nervously twisting the ring on her finger when Jane came bursting into the room. “Come on,” she said, gesturing for Maura, to get up. 

“Wait, what happened?” Maura asked as she jumped up and grabbed Jane’s arm to stop her from walking away.

“You really don’t want to know.”

“Jane,” Maura said patiently. “What did he want?”

Jane stepped closer to Maura so she could say quietly, “He said he wanted to make a deal with me. He’d enter a plea to avoid a trial, which would hopefully prevent any further negative attention on you, if I stopped seeing you.”

“Are you serious?”

Jane nodded. 

“What did you say in response?”

“Well, I basically told him that he should worry about himself and not you. Come on, let’s go. This was a waste of time.”

“No,” Maura said adamantly. “No, I’m going to go talk to him.”

Jane looked like she wanted to protest but didn’t. She just waved her hand at Maura, gesturing for her to go ahead.

Maura went to check in as a visitor and went through security and then was led to the same room she met her father in previously. Since her previous visit Maura had done some research on jail and prison operating procedures and this time she wondered why he really was given this private room. She wondered how many people within the criminal justice system he really had wrapped around his finger and willing to do his bidding, and she wondered if he went to trial what the chances were that he would actually be convicted or whether he would be able to manipulate that too. 

Doyle smile genuinely when he saw Maura standing in the doorway. “Hello, Maura. I had a feeling that I might see you today. You’re probably upset with me right now.”

Maura shook her head as she stepped into the room and stood at the table next to her father. “No. I’m not upset. Because the thing is, you no longer have that much influence over me. I’ve spent my whole adult life running away from your shadow and I’m done running. I will not be intimidated or scared by you or anyone else. Even after you left, I trusted everything you had ever told me and it was all lies. Everything you’ve ever done under the pretense of protecting me has done nothing but hurt me. You can make whatever decision you want to right now, but do it for yourself, not for me.”

“Maura...” Doyle said, subdued.

“Maybe,” Maura said softly, “when this is all over... we can try again. We can try to have a relationship as adults and get to know each other as people. I’m past the point of needing a father, but we’re still family.”

Doyle nodded and Maura smiled half-heartedly before leaving.

They left the jail and Jane drove Maura home and parked in front of her house. Jane helped Maura bring her bags up to the front door and stood there, reluctant to say goodbye. “I really need to check in with work and then I should go home I guess.”

Maura took hold of Jane’s hands and smiled as she said, “I can make it one night without you.”

“Really? I’m not sure if I can,” Jane joked. “I’m sorry. I just hate that our vacation is over and it is making me feel really...agitated.”

“Call me later?” Maura asked.

“Of course.” Jane turned to go but Maura didn’t let go of her hands and pulled her closer. Jane took the hint and leaned down to kiss Maura’s lips. Maura grabbed Jane’s waist and pulled her closer. Eventually Jane broke the kiss with a groan. “Okay, I’m going. I’ll talk to you soon.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  


Jane went to police headquarters and updated Lieutenant Cavanaugh on her meeting with Doyle, telling him that a plea agreement seemed unlikely at this point and that Doyle seemed to just be messing with her. Then she picked up some Chinese food and went to her apartment. She was sitting on her couch with a beer watching the Red Sox post game show when she picked up her phone and called Maura.

“Hi,” Maura answered after a ring.

“Hey, I didn’t wake you up did I?”

“No, I was actually just about to call you. Are you watching the news?” Maura asked.

“No.”

“Put on channel 4.”

Jane changed the channel and listened to the newscaster.

_“We return now to our top story tonight. We reported earlier in this broadcast that infamous mob boss Paddy Doyle was rumored to be preparing to enter into a plea bargain with federal prosecutors. We now have more information on that plea agreement. Doyle will plead guilty to second degree murder in the death of Nicholas Massino, and he will plead guilty to more than two dozen charges of extortion, bribery, obstruction of justice and other crimes under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, commonly known as RICO. His sentence length has not been announced, but by agreeing to the charge of second degree murder, he will avoid the death penalty. Our legal analysts believe federal prosecutors would be unlikely to agree to anything less than life in prison.”_

“Holy shit,” Jane said. 

“Does this mean it’s all over?” Maura asked.

“Well, yeah, I guess so. That’s it. There won’t be a trial. It’s a little anticlimactic, huh?”

“It sort of is,” Maura agreed.

“Do you think you said something that made him decide to enter a plea?”

“I have no idea, Jane. I’m just happy we will be able to move on now.”

“Yeah, me too. I guess I’ll say goodnight. See you tomorrow?”

“Yes. Goodnight, Jane.”

“Goodnight, Maura.”


	22. Chapter 22

The morning after Paddy Doyle’s plea deal was announced Jane was called into police headquarters. As she made her way into the building and upstairs, she got a few pats on the back and a few officers called out congratulations for taking down Paddy. 

Jane just smiled tightly and nodded. She neither wanted nor felt she deserved the attention or congratulations. Being the person to arrest Doyle was nothing more than chance, a case of being in the right place at the right time. And the reasons behind Doyle’s plea bargain seemed equally random.

In fact, Jane thought, a lot of things in her life recently, both good and bad, were a matter of chance. The first and second time she met Maura were completely random. The third meeting she engineered because after her first two encounters she wanted a third. 

Only a few moments into her first private conversation with Maura Isles, when she first visited Maura’s office, Jane was captivated with her and had remained so since then. She knew that there were people who had and probably still would question her reasons for pursuing a relationship with Maura. They would think she was with Maura to get to Doyle. That bothered her. It bothered her that anyone would look at Maura and think about Paddy Doyle. 

Jane made her way to the top floor of the police headquarters building. She had only been to this floor once before, when she was promoted to detective. There had been a five minute ceremony for everyone promoted to detective that quarter, part of a feel good initiative by the new police commissioner at the time. That ceremony probably had only happened once. The current commissioner was opposed to such touchy-feely measures and the previous commissioner hadn’t lasted very long.

This time Jane was headed to the Deputy Superintendent’s office. She was led inside his office by his assistant and found five men waiting for her. Lt. Martinez was her supervisor the past few years in Narcotics and she knew Lt. Cavanaugh some from working on the Doyle case. Captain Jacobs from Narcotics she knew, although he was a hands-off manager and rarely interacted with detectives. Jane recognized but had never previously met Captain O’Sullivan from Homicide and Deputy Superintendent Fitzgerald.

The Deputy Superintendent stood and held out his hand. “Detective Rizzoli, it’s a pleasure to meet you. Please have a seat,” he said, gesturing to the remaining empty chair in the room. Jane sat and he continued. “I asked you to come here today so we could discuss your future.”

“My future?” Jane questioned, thinking that was an ominous sounding phrase.   

Deputy Superintendent Fitzgerald sat down behind his desk. He was a tall, large, and imposing man with a deep voice and he seemed to tower over everyone even sitting down. Jane wouldn’t be surprised if he rose through the ranks of BPD solely because of his stature. “Internal Affairs is still conducting its investigation into the Doyle shooting and your relationship with Paddy Doyle’s daughter. I believe that investigation will clear you of any wrongdoing, but we need to figure out what we are going to do with you after the investigation is complete.”

“What you’re going to do with me? I’m sorry, but what exactly does that mean?”

“It means, Detective Rizzoli, that there is considerable disagreement over what your future role with the Boston Police Department should be given the events of the past few months. Some people have questions about your judgement and behavior and whether you can be trusted.”

Jane couldn’t help but glance across the room at Lt. Martinez. Out of everyone in the room, he had the most first hand experience working with her, but he was unpredictable. He seemed to respect her work, but he also had held a grudge for a long time because Jane had refused all of his many romantic advances. The opinions of anyone else in the room would be based largely on second hand information. 

Jane looked back at Fitzgerald and said, “Sir, with all due respect, I’m great at my job and I have always done everything I’ve been asked to do. I’m confident that I’m the only person in this room who has stood on a street corner in the middle of the night in fishnet stockings for the sake of a case. I’m a great detective and my record shows that.” 

“Detective,” Fitzgerald interjected, holding up a hand. “Your official record is very good, but we all know that isn’t the whole story. That said, there are people in this organization willing to take a chance that your official record means more than anything else. When you’re cleared to return to work you will be reporting to Lt. Cavanaugh in Homicide.”

Jane couldn’t hide her surprise and looked across the room at Cavanaugh. He nodded and said, “Detective Korsak is in need of a new partner. He spoke highly of you and the way you handled yourself during the Massino murder investigation.”

“It will be tempting to view this as a promotion,” Fitzgerald spoke again. “I would caution you against that. There will be a lot of eyes on you now Rizzoli. I suggest you keep your head and down and work hard. You’ll have a lot to learn in Homicide.”

Jane glanced around the room again, wondering why this meeting required the attendance of all of these men, but she kept her thoughts to herself, simply saying, “Yes, sir.” Jane stood to leave, hoping to get out of there before anyone changed their mind. 

She shook Lt. Cavanaugh’s hand on the way to the door and he said, “I’ll call as soon as the IAD report is in.” 

Jane nodded her thanks and left. Not wanting to wait for the elevator, she took the stairs down to the first floor and went outside, where she finally allowed herself to smile.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Maura started getting phone calls from media in the middle of the night and was quickly fending off requests from television, newspapers, magazines, and every other media type available in Boston. They had all been counting on being able to cover Paddy Doyle’s trial and now they were looking for a story to take its place. 

She answered the first few calls and declined to make any comment, but by the early morning her cell phone was ringing so consistently that Maura finally simply turned it off. 

She decided against going to work at the clinic, worrying that the reporters and cameras would be disruptive to patients trying to come for appointments. She was thankful that within the past few weeks she had hired two doctors to take on the bulk of the work of seeing patients, so she could be away without the daily operations of the clinic being compromised.

Instead, Maura slept late into the morning and when she got out of bed, she made a cup of tea and turned on the television. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Jane called Maura but getting no answer she decided to see if Frost was free for lunch. They hadn’t really talked since before Doyle was shot and Jane suddenly felt guilty about that.

She sent him a text that said, _Free for lunch? I’m buying._

Barely a few second passed before he replied, _The usual. 20 minutes._

Jane knew that meant he wanted a sandwich from the deli around the corner. She went and got two sandwiches and drinks and went to their meeting spot in the park across the street from headquarters where Frost was already waiting for her.

“Congratulations,” was the first thing Frost said when Jane arrived.

“You already heard?”

“Martinez told me this morning.”

Jane handed Frost his lunch and sat down next to him on what had become their bench, the place they always met for lunch or to talk over a case when they wanted to get out of the office. “Listen, I never appropriately thanked you for helping me with the Doyle stuff and for just being a good partner. I’ve been busy, but that’s no excuse for not letting you know how much I appreciate everything you did and were willing to do.”

“Hey, you’ve got a hot girlfriend now and you don’t have time for me anymore. I always knew it would happen,” Frost joked. “But you don’t have to thank me. That’s just what partners do and you’ll always be my partner.”

“I’m gonna get you to Homicide with me as soon as I can.”

“You earned it, Jane. I’ll earn it too.” They ate in silence for a few minutes before Frost said, “I’ve got a new partner in Narcotics.”

“Already? Damn that was fast,” Jane said, shaking her head. “Who is it?”

“Riley Cooper.”

“Never heard of him.”

“You mean her. She was just promoted to Detective. She seems smart. And she’s wicked hot.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

After lunch, Jane tried calling Maura. Getting no answer once again, she thought about going to the clinic to see Maura, but she didn’t want to bother her if she was busy. And if she was honest with herself, she didn’t want to seem too clingy. Instead she decided to go see her mother. 

Jane made the drive out to Revere. She used her key to go in the house and called out hello. Getting no answer she walked through the house to the back door and went out to the back porch. She spotted Angela across the yard weeding the flower garden.

“Hey, Ma,” Jane called out.

Angela turned around. “Jane?” Angela stood, obviously startled. “You surprised me. Is everything okay?”

“Everything’s fine,” Jane answered.

“Are you sure?” Angela asked as walked over to the porch. “You usually don’t come by like this.”

“I promise everything is fine. But I had some free time today and we haven’t had much time just the two of us recently, so I figured I might as well come visit.”

Angela stepped closer and asked seriously, “Is everything okay between you and Maura?”

Jane laughed. “Yes.”

“Good. Let’s go inside and I’ll make us some coffee.”

Angela made coffee and they sat down in the kitchen. Jane spent some time telling her about Maura’s mother showing up and what happened with Doyle. She finished by telling her she was being moved into Homicide.

“Homicide?” Angela said. “Does this mean no more pretending to be a prostitute and staying out on the street all night?”

Jane looked at her mother in surprise. “How did you know about that? I never told you I had to do that. I didn’t want you to worry.”

“Frankie told me. You know he can’t keep anything secret from me.”

“I know, he never could,” Jane said with a sigh. But then more seriously she said, “Being a homicide detective is why I always wanted to be a cop. To solve murders and put people behind bars who really deserve to be there. But yes, hopefully it also means no more pretending to be a hooker.”

“We should celebrate. I’ll throw you a party,” Angela said excitedly.

“I don’t want a party, Ma.”

“Why not? We can have a joint party for you and Tommy.”

Jane was confused. “Tommy?” 

“His release date is in three weeks, remember? He’s coming home.”

“You’re going to throw him a get out of prison party?” Jane asked, trying hard to keep her voice level. “Are you sure that’s a good idea?”

“We need to welcome him home and make sure he knows how much we support him.”

Jane shook her head. “Prison changes people. We don’t know what Tommy’s going to be like when he gets out.” 

“He is changed, Jane, for the better. He’s sober now and he wants to get his life together. He doesn’t want to end up in prison again. You would know this if you ever talked to him.”

“I can’t call him in prison, Ma. He has to call me.”

“You could have written him or visited more than twice a year.”

Jane sighed heavily. “You’re right. But I still don’t think a party is a good idea. What about a nice family dinner?”

“We’ll see. I have news too,” Angela said, changing the subject. “I got a job at the Fiorella’s bakery.”

“You did? Why didn’t you tell me sooner?”

“Well, remember how Rosa Fiorella always loved my zeppole and I would never give her my recipe? She still doesn’t have my recipe but I’m making them at the bakery every morning along with some other things. And I take customer orders too.”

“Is this because you need money? You know can tell me if you need money, right?” Jane asked.

“Money is tight, but I’m managing. It will be nice to be making money for myself but really I needed to get out of the house and do something instead of sitting here feeling sorry for myself. The job is for me.”

“That’s great. I’m happy for you, Ma.”

“So, you haven’t said much about Maura. How are things really with her?” Angela asked.

Jane couldn’t stop the smile spreading across her face. “I think they’re really good.”

“Do you love her?”

“Yes,” Jane answered immediately.

“Does she know that?”

“Yeah, she knows.”

“If I can give you one piece of advice, honey, it’s always make sure Maura knows how you feel about her. Don’t make her guess or give her any reason to doubt it.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  


Maura spent the day flipping through the news channels, watching as each covered the breaking news that the notorious mobster Paddy Doyle was making a plea deal. The federal prosecutors held a press conference in the early afternoon confirming that he was making a deal which would put him in prison for the rest of his life. 

The local reporters interviewed people throughout Boston about Paddy Doyle. Some expressed disgust at his crimes, others disgust that he was pleading guilty to those crimes. A fair number, particularly those from Southie, expressed their support for him and their disgust with the police, the federal prosecutors, and any other authority they could think to name.

Then one by one the news channels moved on to other stories. First the national news stations found other stories to cover and by the five o’clock news even the local stations had other top stories. A scandal involving a local politician and a double murder dominated the local news. 

Turning off the television, Maura felt strangely dissatisfied. Her father’s criminal life had shaped her life in one way or another for thirty years. To have it seemingly resolved so quickly seemed wrong. But part of her also felt like a weight had been lifted off her shoulders. She had been running from his shadow for years and she didn’t have to run anymore. Maybe she didn’t have to feel burdened by his past anymore and could live her life the way she wanted to.

Maura turned on her phone. There were more than a dozen messages from numbers she didn’t recognize and she deleted them without listening to them. Jane had left two messages. Maura listened to them and then called Jane.

Jane answered her phone saying, “Hey, are you okay?”

“I’m alright. I was getting so many phone calls from reporters I had to turn my phone off. But I think it’s over. How was your day?”

“Good. I had a meeting at work and then went to visit Ma. I’m at her house now.”

“I was going to ask if you want to come over, but if you’re busy with your mother I don’t want to interrupt that.”

Jane laughed softly into the phone. “Don’t be ridiculous, of course I want to come over. How about I bring dinner?”

“Sure. I need to shower so give me at least half an hour.”

“Okay. It’ll probably be about an hour before I get there.”

“Great. See you soon.”

“Hey, Maur,” Jane said before Maura could hang up.

“Yes?”

“I love you.”

Maura grinned into the phone. “I love you too, Jane.”

“See you soon.”


	23. Chapter 23

Jane arrived at Maura's house with Chinese food for dinner. As she worked in Maura's kitchen, taking out plates and utensils and dishing out food, Maura watched quietly.

Jane set a plate down in front of Maura and said, "You're awfully quiet tonight."

"Mmm," Maura responded.

"And you look tired. What's going on?"

"I didn't get much sleep last night," Maura with a sigh. "I kept getting calls from reporters. I turned off my phone but my whole night was off. Then I slept late today and wasted the day away watching the news."

"Why didn't you call me? I would have kept you company."

Maura shrugged. "I don't know. I'm still trying to figure out how I feel about everything that's happened the past few weeks. I think I needed some time alone."

"You don't have to figure it all out right away. What's the rush?"

"I'm not in a rush. But everything happened so quickly, I haven't had time to process it yet."

"You're free of your father's criminal past. You should just relax and enjoy it."

Maura didn't respond and they finished eating in silence. Jane filled Maura's wine glass and sent her to sit in the living room while she cleaned up dinner. Then she filled her own wine glass and joined Maura on the couch.

"I'm sorry," Jane said as she sat down. "I wasn't trying to tell you what to do. I really don't know what you're going through. I just want to be supportive in whatever way you want me to be. Just know that I'm here for you."

"I know you are."

Jane took Maura's empty wine glass and put it with hers on the coffee table. Then she shifted so she was facing Maura and took hold of one of her hands. "So, I have some news to share, if you don't mind me changing the subject."

"What is it?" Maura asked.

"I got called into headquarters this morning and found out that I'm being moved into Homicide."

"Jane! Congratulations." Maura gave Jane a quick hug, but noted her apprehension. "This is what you wanted, right?"

"Yeah," Jane said hesitantly.

"Then what's wrong?"

"Nothing's wrong." Jane sighed at Maura's knowing look. "It's stupid. It's just...I've always wanted to be a homicide detective, but it didn't happen how I thought it would."

"What do you mean?" Maura asked.

"The way I was called in this morning, at first it seemed like I was going to be fired. My Lieutenant and Captain from Narcotics were there, along with my new Lieutenant and Captain in Homicide. They all just sat there stone faced while the Deputy Superintendent told me there were people in BDP who didn't trust me but that I was moving over to Homicide. I think he and some other people still do want to fire me but they can't because it will look bad for the police department to fire the cop who brought in Doyle. I thought when I made it to Homicide, it would be because of my outstanding record, not because it's the only department that wants me right now."

"You'll prove soon enough that you belong there," Maura assured her.

Jane sighed and leaned back against the couch, turning away from Maura. "I hope so because I'm sure there will be people just waiting for me to slip up so they can get rid of me."

"When will you start?" Maura asked after a moment.

"As soon as Internal Affairs finishes its bullshit investigation of me. But that means it could be any day now."

"So you can't go anywhere right now?" Maura said with a sad look.

"I'd rather not. I want to be ready to start right away. Why? What did you have in mind?"

"I've been thinking today about a lot of things. Things I should do and things I need to do. I was thinking about Hope Martin, my mother."

"What about her?" Jane said neutrally.

"I think I would like to get to know her. She emailed me yesterday and said she had to go back to Chicago already. I was thinking about taking a trip to see her. If she was still willing to see me."

"Do you have to go there? Why not invite her to Boston?" Jane suggested.

"I could do that, but she was just here and I wasn't exactly welcoming to her."

"Which was perfectly understandable."

"Still, I'd like to make the effort. And going to Chicago lets me do things at my pace. I can stay for as long or as little as I want to."

"What other things are you planning?" Jane asked warily.

"Jane," Maura drawled playfully, and when Jane didn't look at her, she moved to straddle Jane's lap, smiling as Jane's hands automatically wrapped around her waist. "I'm not planning anything else. Even going to Chicago is just an idea. But I have a lot to think about. The clinic is practically running itself now. I can step away from that and figure out what I want to do next."

"Just promise me you aren't going to run off to Africa for a year or something, okay?" Jane said seriously.

"Run off to Africa?"

"You know what I mean. I thought things might settle down for us a little now and we could…I don't know...I want you to do what you need to do, but come back to me, okay?"

Maura leaned forward and kissed Jane's lips. Jane wrapped her arms tighter around Maura's waist and pulled their bodies together as she deepened the kiss, parting her lips and pushing her tongue inside Maura's mouth until Maura pulled back with a satisfied sigh.

"I'll come back to you," Maura said seriously. "Whatever my future plans are, they include you. I love you, Jane. I was hoping you could come to Chicago with me, but if that won't work for you, we'll figure something else out."

Jane shifted and pushed Maura backwards onto her back on the couch and moved over her. She kissed her lips once more and then moved to her neck as her hand slipped under the hem of Maura's shirt and moved the over bare skin of Maura's abdomen. Maura's hands went to Jane's hips and pulled her down against her.

"Maybe we should move in together," Jane said against Maura's neck.

"Didn't you say it was too early for that just a few days ago," Maura said, grinning.

Jane raised her head up to look at Maura again. "That was before you were talking about going off to Chicago and who knows where else."

"Jane, I have one possible trip planned and it's not even definite."

"Okay, but my schedule may be different now too. When I'm on a case I may gone for forty-eight or seventy-two hours at time. Or on call every night for a week. When I'm not working and you're not doing whatever it is you're going to be doing, I want us to be able to be together."

"That's sweet."

"Maur," Jane said with a pout. "I'm being serious. I love you and I know we haven't been together very long, but we've been through a lot. And after everything we've been though recently, if we still want to be together, let's go for it and see what happens."

"Okay. Let's move in together," Maura said happily.

"Really? Are you sure? I'm not trying to rush you."

"How about this? We'll find a new place that works for the both of us. That way we can take our time and figure out what we both want and we won't be rushing into it. How does that sound?"

"That sounds very rational."

"Is that good or bad?"

"Good. It's a good idea."

Maura pulled Jane down into another kiss and then said, "Right now, why don't we move upstairs to the bedroom."

"Also, a good idea," Jane said. She stood up, helped Maura up, and then let Maura lead her upstairs for the rest of the night.

* * *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> When I started this story I had some ideas that I never got around to actually getting in the story. I was going to have Casey come back and cause problems, but that was planned before he became such a problem on the show. Tommy was going to get out of prison and be a pain in Jane’s ass somehow. And I thought I’d get Jane to Homicide and have her encounter Hoyt and see how being in a relationship with Maura would change how she went after Hoyt. 
> 
> I ended up spending more time on Doyle more than I originally expected to, so for better or worse that plot line became the focus of this story. I’m going to end this story here now that the Doyle plot is wrapped up. I went back and forth for awhile about whether I should continue with this story, but given how little time I’ve been devoting to it, I decided it’s better to end it now. I know updates have been few and far between recently so thank you to everyone who has stuck with it to the end.


End file.
